The Last Dance, MJ doc Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images
Episodes 3 and 4 of The Last Dance MJ doc provided further invaluable insights to the greatness of the 1990’s Chicago Bulls’ teams. Here are the biggest.
Well, here we are again. If viewers weren’t attached hook, line and sinker to the astonishing whirlwind of a masterpiece that is ESPN’s MJ doc, The Last Dance, then by all means, they unequivocally are now. Another enthralling double-dosage of the 10-part documentary signifies another painstakingly enduring week of constant check-ins to the six-day, 22-hour countdown that began with last episode’s cessation, and will finally culminate with the next airing of the star-studded spectacle. All we want is more, and more couldn’t possibly come quick enough.
How four hours of television programming can leave basketball fans with a lifetime of previously undiscovered information is beyond me. And yet somehow, it’s done just that.
https://twitter.com/HistoryJumpman/status/1255167840908271617?s=20
This week’s installments were rife with awe-inciting drama, rambunctious rendezvous’, and vast coverings of uncharted territorial information. But for all that we were able to take away from them, there’s still so much left to be unearthed, and it was entirely inevitable that questions came to a full blaze as soon as the film’s final moments ran the course of their airtime.
A Puerto Rican referee was shot where? Phil Jackson took what drugs? And don’t even get me started on Dennis Rodman.
As the story that represents the 1990’s Chicago Bulls dynasty dives deeper into the team’s most closeted realms, so much continues to in turn maneuver its way to the surface. Somehow, we’ve only barely begun to gather and deposit the essential information from the showings into our minds, and yet it already feels like we know so much. Quite the contradiction this tale poses. But it’s without question a beautiful one.
And one that is leaving us with no other choice but to quell our anticipation for next week’s chapters (which I’m sure will continuously turn into next week, and the week after that for the course of the show’s duration after each episode airs.)
In the meantime though, we’ll focus on the information we did gain from the most recent edition of The Last Dance. Here are the biggest things we learned from episodes 3 and 4.
#TheLastDance</a> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/ki2fXhx4Sn">pic.twitter.com/ki2fXhx4Sn
<p>— Champagne Papo (@Papo_Escobar_) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/Papo_Escobar_/status/1254834779960246272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>As the story that represents the 1990’s <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/chicago-bulls/">Chicago Bulls</a> dynasty dives deeper into the team’s most closeted realms, so much continues to in turn maneuver its way to the surface. Somehow, we’ve only barely begun to gather and deposit the essential information from the showings into our minds, and yet it already feels like we know so much. Quite the contradiction this tale poses. But it’s without question a beautiful one.</p>
<p>And one that is leaving us with no other choice but to quell our anticipation for next week’s chapters (which I’m sure will continuously turn into next week, and the week after that for the course of the show’s duration after each episode airs.)</p>
<p>In the meantime though, we’ll focus on the information we did gain from the most recent edition of <em>The Last Dance</em>. Here are the biggest things we learned from episodes 3 and 4.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 5 </a>
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<img class="wp-image-392876 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1237,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1195631444.jpeg" alt="The Last Dance, MJ doc " width="1600" height="1237" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1195631444.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1195631444-768x594.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">The Last Dance, MJ doc Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h3>5. Dennis Rodman was a calculative genius</h3>
<p>The art of rebounding is not rocket science. But it isn’t something that can just befall on any average Joe either. Mastering the craft takes a delicate balance of innate talent, bodily dexterity, and above all, a certain unquestionable amount of mental recitation of repeated action.</p>
<p>We’ve all heard the old adage that success in sports has a physical requirement of around 10 percent, and that the other 90 percent of overall accomplishment in any playing field is entirely dependent on the mind.</p>
<p><a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 ref="nofollow">Michael Jordan</a> serves as the perfect translucent example of this belief, and we’ve already been shown multiple glimpses of the superiority of the inner thoughts that drove his outer being.</p>
<p>Dennis Rodman’s mind on the other hand, has always been a questionable case, to say the least.</p>
<p>One of the more quirky and extravagant, yet misunderstood figures in NBA history, the interior weavings of Rodman’s brain have long been the subject of intense speculation. He’s been labeled a misfit, an outsider and just flat-out weird, and some have even gone to the lengths of bluntly questioning: “what’s wrong with him?”</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="light" data-text="The Last Dance: Things left to explore after episodes 3 and 4" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/27/the-last-dance-things-explore-3-4/" data-call-to-action="Related Story"> <div class="story-link-related"> <a class="story-link-related-btn" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-related-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/27/the-last-dance-things-explore-3-4/"> <span class="call_to_action">Related Story:</span> The Last Dance: Things left to explore after episodes 3 and 4 </a> </div>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dennis Rodman: The NBA’s original 5-position defender. While known mostly for his rebounding instincts, Rodman was arguably the most versatile defender the game has ever seen. Here’s a look at his defensive greatness against legends like MJ, Magic, Shaq, Bird, and more. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/VjOAkWP82R">pic.twitter.com/VjOAkWP82R
<p>— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/Mike_Schmitz/status/1255178348537380864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 28, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Rodman, on the contrary, may have secured the keys to “normality” that many of us still struggle daily in finding: he’s perfected his own form of unapologetic freedom, and that’s entirely more indicative of a supreme mental strength than of a lacking in his cerebral foundations.</p>
<p>And this psychological fortitude was always on full display when he was in the midst of elevating for, and pulling down, seven seasons worth of league-leading rebounding totals. He was an absolute one-man rebounding wrecking crew, and this is likely due to that ever-important 90 percent.</p>
<p>Rodman went into full detail during episode 3 on his repeated boarding practices:</p>
<blockquote><p>“Basically I just started learning how to perfect (rebounding and defense…I just practiced a lot about the angle of the ball, and the trajectory of it. You’ve a got Larry Bird, it’s gonna spin. You got a Magic (Johnson) it’ll maybe spin, when Michael shoots…so basically I just started learning how to put myself in position to get the ball.”</p></blockquote>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The idea that you can either rebound or you can't or that rebounding is only about effort is not true. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/dennisrodman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@dennisrodman studied rebounding down to a science, much like <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/RealBillRussell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@RealBillRussell <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/rebounding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#rebounding</a> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/qCCjQuayom">pic.twitter.com/qCCjQuayom
<p>— Caleb R. Graves (@coachgravesbb) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/coachgravesbb/status/1255141261842903042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 28, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>This is why it doesn’t come as much of a shock that MJ described Rodman as one of the smartest teammates he’s ever had. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/27/last-dance-dennis-rodman-chicago-bulls-2/">His off-court escapades are an entirely different animal</a>, but one thing’s for sure when it come to his play on the court – the man never allowed his basketball IQ to be left up to questioning.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 4 </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1540px;">The Last Dance, MJ doc ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h3>4. “Tonight we take care of you”</h3>
<p>It was more than clear that Dennis Rodman couldn’t have cared less about what others thought of him, and that the determinations and opinions of those around him were fraught in shaking the core self-attributes that made him who he was.</p>
<p>Michael Jordan, on the other hand, was a <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/26/mj-doc-chicago-bulls-michael-jordan-reporters/">rigid opinion connoisseur</a>.</p>
<p>In fact, it’s quite possible that it was the concept of proving his doubters wrong (including his dad at a wildly innocent young age, which he alluded to in episode 1) that created the full-on workaholic responsible for the six rings he brought to Chicago.</p>
<p>Oftentimes in today’s basketball landscape, players are advised to stray away from media criticisms – and especially the judgmental comments of the cruel couch-potato social media world that thrives on making viral memes of player pitfalls (see Kevin Durant). It’s impossible to avoid outside commentary as a public figure who’s been thrust into the global spotlight, but players of today’s age have constantly been advised that their own personal power lies in the amount, or lack thereof, of reactive aggression they have to it.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="light" data-text="50 greatest duos in NBA history" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2015/12/28/nbas-50-greatest-duos-time/" data-call-to-action="Related Story"> <div class="story-link-related"> <a class="story-link-related-btn" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-related-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2015/12/28/nbas-50-greatest-duos-time/"> <span class="call_to_action">Related Story:</span> 50 greatest duos in NBA history </a> </div>
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<p>It’d be a wonder to see how Jordan would fare with these efforts in today’s NBA.</p>
<p>He was undoubtedly fueled by responding to his haters (<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/20/the-last-dance-6-learned-episodes-1-2/7/">just take his 63-point outburst vs. Boston after losing to opposing guard Danny Ainge in a game of golf the previous day</a>).</p>
<p>And the backstory behind his iconic game-winning double-pump jump shot against the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/cleveland-cavaliers/">Cleveland Cavaliers</a> in the 1988 Eastern conference semis is the ultimate insinuation of this.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"The Shot." <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheLastDance?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#TheLastDance</a> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/O9BVJxqgZo">pic.twitter.com/O9BVJxqgZo
<p>— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1254583203140165632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Here’s the account, as told by then-Chicago Tribune beat writer Sam Smith:</p>
<blockquote><p>“So (Game 5’s) about to start and there were two other beat writers. Beat writer from the Sun-Times, Lacy Banks. And Kent McDill from the (Daily) Herald, and me,” Smith begins. “Lacy has picked the Cavs to sweep in three. Kent has picked the Cavs to win in four. And I had picked the Cavs to win in five.</p>
<p>“Game’s just about to start. And Michael walks over to Lacy and points to him and says, ‘we took care of you.’ Then he Looks at Kent and says, ‘we took care of you.’ And he looks at me and says, ‘we take care of you today.'”</p></blockquote>
<p>And take care of each he did – almost single-handedly, busting out for 44 points in the final game of a series in which he averaged nearly 40 a night (39.8).</p>
<p>Jordan’s final resolution of the night, also known as “The Shot”, will forever be etched into the memories of Bulls’ fans worldwide, and into the hearts of those writers that publicized their questionings of his winning aptitude. As he famously leaped into the air in celebration, we now know the exact words that came out of his mouth in jubilant elation as Cavs’ players solemnly sombered off of their home court: “get the f*** outta here!”</p>
<p>An emphatic outcry to the quietly stunned Cleveland fanbase no doubt, but also a giant middle finger to the non-believing media members that incorrectly predicted his downfall.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 3 </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1597px;">The Last Dance, MJ doc ANDREW CUTRARO/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h3>3. The real Jordan rules</h3>
<p>The personal rift between Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls teams and <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/detroit-pistons/">Detroit’s “Bad Boy” Pistons </a>of the late 80’s did not surpass the duration of their playing days, but that doesn’t mean the mutual feelings of disdain between the teams as groups have run their course.</p>
<p>Just ask Horace Grant, who was none too shy about revealing how he felt about Detroit’s impromptu decision to prematurely exit the court without offering a parting gesture of sportsmanship to their opponent after Chicago finally took them down in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals.</p>
<p>“Straight up b*****s”, he called them.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Straight up b****es"</p>
<p>-Horace Grant on the Detroit Bad Boys 😳<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheLastDance?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#TheLastDance</a> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/oFQ8lxj56C">pic.twitter.com/oFQ8lxj56C
<p>— SB Nation (@SBNation) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/1254601321946087424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>A sentiment that stands tall for many Bulls alumni to this day.</p>
<p>But in fact, it was the Bulls themselves who were <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/26/michael-jordan-pistons-hated/">effectively rendered the aforementioned obscenity by Detroit year after year</a> before finally ascending over the mountaintop into NBA Finals oblivion in 1991.</p>
<p>The Pistons always seemed to have Chicago’s number throughout their playoff bouts of the late 1980’s, and <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/thomais01.html" ref="nofollow">Isiah Thomas</a>, Dennis Rodman (pre-Chicago) and company routinely succeeded in making the eventual three-peat champions appear inadequately toughened on the hardwood.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="light" data-text="Ranking the last 50 NBA champions" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2016/07/18/nba-ranking-last-50-champions/" data-call-to-action="Related Story"> <div class="story-link-related"> <a class="story-link-related-btn" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-related-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2016/07/18/nba-ranking-last-50-champions/"> <span class="call_to_action">Related Story:</span> Ranking the last 50 NBA champions </a> </div>
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<p>This can be greatly attributed to the team’s self-dubbed “Jordan Rules” – a set of defensive stipulations set in place for stopping none other than – you guessed it, Michael Jordan.</p>
<p>For years fans and basketball historians had the impression that these rules simply entailed hard, and oftentimes unnecessary brash, flagrant-like contact on Jordan whenever he had the ball, a strategy that was more than acceptable to NBA refs at the time, in what can easily be deemed the league’s physical heyday prior to newly instated hand checking regulations.</p>
<p>But thanks to <em>The Last Dance, </em>the detailed specifications of the Jordan Rules were brought to full exploration.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Jordan Rules aka jump MJ when he has the ball <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/11C6SA1PHW">pic.twitter.com/11C6SA1PHW
<p>— Barstool Chicago (@barstoolchicago) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/barstoolchicago/status/1253160231728820230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 23, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>They were listed as follows by a former Pistons’ assistant:</p>
<blockquote><p>“1. On the wings, push him to the elbow, and don’t let him get to the baseline 2. When he’s on top, influence him to his left 3. When he gets the ball in the low post, trap him from the top.”</p></blockquote>
<p>And oh yeah, one final requirement – perhaps the most imperative of them all: “when he goes in the paint, put him on his butt.”</p>
<p>Essentially: ‘we know we can’t stop this man, so we’re just going to have to foul him to keep him at bay.’ It worked the first three years the teams met up. But what Detroit wasn’t aware of, was the fact that they were forcing Jordan to address the one area of his game he was lacking in: physical strength.</p>
<p>Which, ever the perfectionist, he unsurprisingly set out to eliminate as an indisputable weakness. So did it work? Well, take six rings and a (highly debated) GOAT title later, and I’d think it’s safe to say Jordan did pretty well for himself throughout the remainder his career.</p>
<p>Thanks Detroit.</p>
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<img class="wp-image-395417 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_784,w_1024/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51653003.jpeg" alt="The Last Dance, MJ doc " width="1024" height="784" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51653003.jpeg 1024w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51653003-768x588.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1024px;">The Last Dance, MJ doc AFP PHOTO/JEFF HAYNES</p>
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<h3>2. Phil Jackson – Zen master extraordinaire</h3>
<p>Did I already mention somewhere in this article that Phil Jackson took acid?</p>
<p>Now, it’s unclear what the frequency of his illicit drug use was, but Jackson was not at all shy about exploring the different beacons of the world’s spiritual realms in efforts to expand his preternatural horizons.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Please enjoy these photos of a young Phil Jackson <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/amT5CKkG0h">pic.twitter.com/amT5CKkG0h
<p>— Vulture (@vulture) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/vulture/status/1254594490247057411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>In fact, he used many of his Zen-inherited tactics to strengthen the mental intuitions of the players that operated under him.</p>
<p>A self-tabbed hippie, Jackson couldn’t have arrived at peak adulthood at any better time in American history for folks of his naturalistic, progressive mindset. Experimentation was at an all-time high around the same years that Jackson was developing into a fully-fledged man and coming to his own conclusions about some of the more perplexing entities of the world.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="light" data-text="Every NBA team's Mount Rushmore" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2015/07/21/every-nba-teams-mount-rushmore/" data-call-to-action="Related Story"> <div class="story-link-related"> <a class="story-link-related-btn" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-related-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2015/07/21/every-nba-teams-mount-rushmore/"> <span class="call_to_action">Related Story:</span> Every NBA team's Mount Rushmore </a> </div>
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<p>And experiment he did.</p>
<p>In fact, LSD was not the only hallucinogen he enjoyed dabbling in – he also cited a certain positive regard for marijuana as well, revealing his concerns with its lack of legalization to media members years ago.</p>
<p>He’s tried a few things, to say the least, but aside from carrying some killer personal stories from his heyday with him to the head coaching position in Chicago in 1989, he brought along a mental approach that was entirely unheard of.</p>
<p>Like I said before: 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical, and Jackson was ahead of his time when it came to this aspect of coaching.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"He don't look at me as a basketball player, he looks at me as a great friend."</p>
<p>—Dennis Rodman on Phil Jackson <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheLastDance?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#TheLastDance</a> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/SkuWfA6BKt">pic.twitter.com/SkuWfA6BKt
<p>— ESPN (@espn) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/espn/status/1254594288253652992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>He emphasized brain recharging and consistent sleep patterns long before NBA teams employed specific contractors to study and monitor their effects on players, and initiated several team bonding exercises that stretched far beyond the circumferences of basketball.</p>
<p>His methodical practices of Eastern philosophy saw him partaking in meditations with his players, enforcing visualization strategies, and even prioritizing quiet moments of togetherness in a sport that required some of the loudest forms of verbal communication – a uniting strategy he believed would do wonders for the collective inner spirits of his unit – so that they would be able to become one without having to speak the slightest word.</p>
<p>Jackson believed in a holistic approach to his team: that no part was greater than its whole – which rendered even a figure like Michael Jordan himself, just a contributing part to a greater good.</p>
<p>As crazy an idea this may seem, it was ultimately Jackson’s mind, of course, coupled with talents like Jordan and Pippen, that was the driving ammunition behind their valiant quests towards supremacy.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> No. 1 </a>
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<img class="wp-image-395414 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1982,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51637755.jpeg" alt="The Last Dance, MJ doc " width="1600" height="1982" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51637755.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51637755-768x951.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">The Last Dance, MJ doc Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h3>1. The evolution of the triangle offense</h3>
<p>Michael Jordan was none too happy to see his favorite head coach Doug Collins stripped of his leadership duties following the 1988-89 campaign. The two had developed the ultimate bosom-buddy player-coach relationship during Collins’ short-lived tenure at the helm of the organization during the latter part of the decade, and Jordan himself admitted that he was practically in love with Collins’ coaching style and competitiveness.</p>
<p>Jordan even bestowed an affectionate kiss on Collins’ cheek during a national television segment as a symbol of their loving attitude towards one another.</p>
<p>There was a natural gravitational pull between the pair – they were practically twin flames, but much of Jordan’s biased favor towards his former sideline instructor was heavily predicated on Collins’ desire to allow Jordan full control of the team’s offense, which of course meant more often than not, the ball was primarily in Jordan’s hands.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“I wasn’t a Phil Jackson fan when he first came in. He wanted to take the ball out of my hands. Doug Collins put the ball in my hands.” – Michael Jordan on the Bulls hiring the Zen Master. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheLastDance?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#TheLastDance</a> </p>
<p> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/d1CYZHFUd7">pic.twitter.com/d1CYZHFUd7
<p>— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1254595826669760514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Collins’ comments following the heralded “Shot” vs. Cleveland in his team’s postgame presser epitomized his coaching ideologies during his tenure as headman: “give Michael the ball and get the f*** out of the way.”</p>
<p>And the final season of the Collins-Jordan partnership, 1988, produced a single-year resumé for Jordan that is virtually unheard of: a scoring title, league MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Slam Dunk title, and All-Star game MVP award.</p>
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<p>One would think a laundry-list of awards like that would be enough to keep Collins in town for the long haul.</p>
<p>But Jerry Krause had other plans for his team, and after failing to get over the playoff hump (that hump being the Detroit Pistons) one too many times, he decided it was time to give Collins the boot in lieu of an alternate young coach’s philosophy: Phil Jackson. And looking back, it’s hard to disagree with Krause’ move.</p>
<p>He had a deep appreciation for Jackson’s studious nature and knowledge of the game and was thoroughly impressed by his work while playing the role of protegé under legendary basketball mind Tex Winter.</p>
<p>Jackson made quick waves within his newly appointed role, not only instituting several of his previously mentioned unorthodox spiritual practices but the offensive system that Winter had so famously popularized in prior decades: the Triangle.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The triangle offense. <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://t.co/k4h9cEbo2N">pic.twitter.com/k4h9cEbo2N
<p>— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/1254597221804150786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>April 27, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The system would effectively take away Jordan’s role as primary ball-handler, but opened up a drive and cut system that allowed for the free flow of offense, ensuring that a player would always be in motion without the ball, as opposed to teammates standing around and watching Jordan engage in one-on-one isolation possessions.</p>
<p>It proved to be exactly what they needed to get over that elusive obstacle that was the Pistons. The offense was responsible for the evolution of <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pippesc01.html" ref="nofollow">Scottie Pippen</a> into an All-Star caliber player, effectively transforming his skillset to allow him to smoothly fuse into the ball-dominant point-forward’s role we see so many players of his body-build employ today – and become the perfect complement to Jordan’s scoring adeptness.</p>
<p>There would be no championship rings in Chicago without each critical vertex of the three-pronged machine in full vitalization within the offense, and the scheme’s implementation by Jackson actually resulted in a doubling of the triangular number for the 90’s squads when it came to winning: not only subsequent titles in ’91, ’92 and ’93, but hypotenuse reflections in ’96, ’97 and ’98.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="50 greatest players in NBA history" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2014/11/21/nba-50-greatest-players-time/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/04/29/the-last-dance-learned-eps-3-4-mj-doc/"https://hoopshabit.com/2014/11/21/nba-50-greatest-players-time/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> 50 greatest players in NBA history </a> </div>
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