The first two episodes of “The Last Dance,” which aired Sunday night on ESPN, put the competitiveness of Michael Jordan on full display while giving lots of background on the drama early in the Bulls’ 1997-98 campaign.
We got glimpses at how Jordan’s childhood helped turn him into one of the fiercest competitors in sports history, and how that helped propel his rise at North Carolina under Dean Smith. We saw how a feeble Bulls franchise quickly began to transform after drafting Jordan in 1984.
The episodes, which jump around timelines while weaving in footage and interviews, also provide context for the discord that surrounded the Bulls during the summer and fall of 1997.