ESPNās The Last Dance covers a lot of ground. The series is nominally about the Chicago Bullsā 1997-ā98 season, but there are frequent detours for Dennis Rodman, the Dream Team, and the āRepublicans buy sneakersā controversy. Still, the documentaryās main selling point is its trove of never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage of Michael Jordanās final championship season. In previous episodes, these looks back provided a fascinating glimpse of Jordanās off-court fashion (who knew M.J. was such a hat guy?) and introduced us to instantly iconic bodyguard John Michael Wozniak. Now Sundayās installments promise to bring the holy grail of Jordan footage ā scenes of the greatest basketball player of all time being a complete and utter jackass to his teammates.
Stories of such douchbaggery have been part of the MJ legend ever since Sam Smithās The Jordan Rules, and in this exclusive clip from episode seven, we get a short but telling glimpse of his cold-eyed practice demeanor, which go a long way in demonstrating the āfear factorā he brought to the court. āLetās not get it wrong, he was an asshole,ā Bulls center Will Perdue recalls. āHe was a jerk. He crossed the line numerous times.ā Of course, since this footage was only made public with Jordanās approval, thereās a rosy conclusion ā this unpleasantness ultimately brought out the best in his teammates. Still, donāt take it as a model for how to act in your own professional environment.