The Last Dance Reactions Ep. 3 & 4: McCollum, Rome, NBA Analysts & Stars

Photo by: Beth A. Keiser/AP Photo

After the sports world got a fix of “live sports” with the NFL Draft Thursday-Saturday, people were excited to have another two episodes of ESPN’s Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance.

Episode three focused on Dennis Rodman, while episode four shed light on Phil Jackson.

The most anticipated aspect of the Rodman episode was a story centered around the Bulls big man wanting “a vacation” when Scottie Pippen returned from injury. Rodman was given 48 hours.

Rodman wanted to take a vacation … mid-season 😳

48 hours in Vegas #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/JWGpnEqgJH

— ESPN (@espn) April 27, 2020

Say what you want Dennis Rodman invented load management 😂😂😂😂😂

— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) April 27, 2020

In the documentary, it appears that Jordan went all the way to Las Vegas to retrieve Rodman after he missed returning in 48 hours.

if you ever question how good Rodman was at basketball just remember he had MICHAEL JORDAN running around Las Vegas looking for him like a scene from The Hangover.

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 27, 2020

However, that wasn’t the truth. Despite the way Director Jason Hehir portrays the events in the doc, apparently he needed to clarify a few things Monday morning. Jordan did NOT go all the way to Las Vegas to get Rodman.

It turns out Michael Jordan went to Dennis Rodman’s Chicago apartment to get him back to practice, not his hotel room in Las Vegas https://t.co/gSur5SxGpM

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 27, 2020

One thing remains true however, Rodman was important enough that Jordan probably would have gone to Vegas to fetch the big guy.

Every team in every sport got a player with Dennis Rodman mentality. They just don’t have his talent , intangibles and Phil Jackson as the coach 🤣 #TheLastDance

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) April 27, 2020

The effort , will and sacrifice to beat up the glass and not even care about touches. There won’t ever be another one quite like him. https://t.co/8JTfMagAk0

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) April 27, 2020

During Sunday’s episodes, Jordan’s battles with the Detroit Pistons was documented, along with MJ’s hate for the “Bad Boys”.

Best moment so far: MJ’s reaction to the mention of Isiah’s name

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) April 27, 2020

Here’s that reaction…

Death, taxes, Michael Jordan hating Isiah Thomas pic.twitter.com/MncOf4czeW

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 27, 2020

Mike has successfully become another MeMe https://t.co/ihrBBKpP1L

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 27, 2020

During the Phil Jackson episode, we got to see a different side of the legendary coach. Charley Rosen, who co-wrote Maverick with Jackson, talked about Jackson’s admission to taking acid and “thinking he was a lion roaring up and down the beach in LA. Phil was like a hippie.”

Phil Jackson on acid is just Bill Walton

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) April 27, 2020

There are several things that made Jackson a successful coach, but one of the biggest is probably is ability to relate to and accept his players for who they were. He didn’t try to change them.

“He don’t look at me as a basketball player, he looks at me as a great friend.”

—Dennis Rodman on Phil Jackson #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/SkuWfA6BKt

— ESPN (@espn) April 27, 2020

After the Phil Jackson episode, Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt helped illustrate just how good the 13-time NBA Champion (two as a player, 11 as a coach) really was coaching the Bulls and Lakers.