The Cleveland Cavaliers played a special part in the approval process of Michael Jordan’s upcoming documentary, “The Last Dance.”
According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, producer Mike Tollin revealed that he watched the Cavs’ 2016 championship parade before he pitched the documentary series to Jordan, and saw it as a sign from the universe.
“The universe has such a funny sense of humor,” Tollin said. “Because when I woke up, I put on ESPN while I’m getting dressed, and there’s LeBron [James] and the Cavaliers parading through the streets of Cleveland with the trophy that they’d just won.”
Later that day, the six-time champion agreed to the making of the highly anticipated short series.
However, there is one interesting theory as to why the Chicago Bulls legend approved the idea on the same day as the Cavs parade.
One interesting theory, which I first heard from @BillSimmons, posits that Michael Jordan finally sanctioned a documentary on his career because the 73-win Warriors — and LeBron James by beating them in the 2016 Finals — were threatening to obscure some of the Bulls' greatness
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 18, 2020
Jordan, 57, is considered the greatest basketball player of all time.
But Los Angeles Lakers superstar James is threatening to surpass him in the G.O.A.T. race.
The four-time MVP’s greatest career accomplishment is when he led the Cavs past the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
While Jordan’s Bulls had held the NBA record of 72 regular-season wins during the 1995-96 campaign, the Warriors stole the honor by concluding the 2015-16 season with a remarkable 73-9 record.
The Warriors were on the cusp of cementing their historic season as they went up 3-1 on the Cavs in the 2016 Finals. However, James pulled off the impossible and rallied the Cavs back from a 3-1 deficit to upset the Warriors.
The unparalleled championship run put James in unprecedented territory.
It appears Jordan felt that his throne was vulnerable, pushing him to approve documentation of his final stint with the Bulls in order to make people remember his greatness.
The first two episodes of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” will premiere on Sunday, April 19 at 9 p.m. EST.
