Michael Jordan Stories: ‘The Last Dance' Could Not Accommodate

Accommodating the legendary life of Michael Jordan into one documentary spanning 10 hours is practically not possible. There are too many interesting and inspiring stories to be told in a 10-hours documentary. However, ‘The Last Dance’ is so created to fit in some of the most important moments of Jordan’s career, yet — it took the makers impossible & unrealistic to tell every single story that his fans would definitely love to hear. His legacy is too giant — and certain misses were inevitable or the narrative could not look as consistent as it does.

But, not to worry! What if these stories could not be a part of “The Last Dance.” It does not mean that they are not going to be a part of ‘your story’? These stories got missed from the documentary, but you must know them — every single part of Jordan’s life had ever created a heroic story. We are helping our readers with some of those venerable stories of Michael Jordan's career. Let’s read:

Trash-talking GOAT

While there is much mention of how Jordan was with his own teammates in “The Last Dance,” however, there isn’t any story showcasing how he was with his opponents and how he was a relentless trash-talker. There are a number of stories where such an attitude of Jordan was noticed. Let’s look at some of these incidences and Jordan’s attitude towards his opponents:

According to his colleagues and other players, Jordan would often sing Anita Baker songs, and that was to psyche out his opponents. Roshown McLeod, former NBA forward said that the target used to be Jerry Stackhouse.

At the beginning of his career, Steve Smith, the former NBA guard said that he defended Jordan. Making his first basket in the game, Jordan was counting backward through 40 (which was the score he was aspiring to score). He started with 38, with the first basket & then 36 and so on.

To get into Nick Anderson’s head, Jordan would tell him the same moves, down to the number of dribbles that he would play against him.

According to one source, Jordan dunked over 6-1 John Stockton, the Utah Jazz point guard. On this, one of his fans (who was believed to be the owner Larry Miller) screamed, asking him for someone of his own size. Upon which, Jordan dunked on Mel Turpin who was 6-11, and asked his heckler if he found him big enough for Jordan.

There are many other interesting anecdotes to remember about Jordans’ attitude towards his opponents that have no mention in the 10 hours documentary “The Last Dance.” His status of a trash-talking GOAT was just irrefutable.

The trade offers:

It is said that Jordan was passed on to No. 2 by the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Draft 1984. This opinion on Jordan in the basketball world at the time looks staggering with everyone looking out for Jordan. During the 1984 Olympics when Bobby Knight was the coach for Jordan’s team. He was so impressed with Jordan’s game that he asked Blazers GM, Stu Inman, to play him at the center when Stu Inman was complete with a different opinion.

One story that is beyond belief was narrated by one of his teammates itself — Hakeem Olajuwon. In his book, “Living the Dream: My Life and Basketball,” he says that the Rockets had a plan of trading Ralph Sampson & Clyde Drexler to the Portland for No.2 picks. They were thinking of picking Olajuwon in a combination of Jordan No. 2 and Sampson at No. 1 to create the most amazing trio in the history of basketball. But, Houston said No to this, and Jordan was there in Chicago.

Even after Jordan was drafted, he never kept away from trade rumors. Sam Smith’s book, “The Jordan Rules,” says that during the early career of Jordan in Chicago, an offer for Bulls came from the Los Angeles Clippers — they proposed to trade Jordan in exchange for any five draft picks. But, the Chicago bulls refused & toyed their proposal — Bulls could have Horace Grant & Scottie Pippen, (the deepest & youngest Rosters) by saying YES to that proposal. But, Bulls were sure about not trading Jordan & they never regret refusing this proposal that came from Los Angeles Clippers.

The Wizards years:

Many think that a shot over Bryon Russell could have given Jordan the best end to his story, but it’s wrong to think that way. Even after being in his 40s, Jordan played like an unconquerable wizard who was never ready to STOP. His game looked all refreshing, even after returning from three seasons off. It would not be wrong to say that he was one hero & the games he played would never be there again.

His wizard years did not only live up to Chicago but there are many moments & stories of Jordan’s Chicago years too. He became the oldest ever-player (after Jamal Crawford) to have dropped 51 points during his game against the Charlotte Hornets. He beat both the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers hitting some real game-winning daggers. There was nearly the same story during the All-Star Game in 2003 when he put up the East with just five seconds remaining by two. And, the West sent the game to overtime thereby managing to win the game.

We have brought to you Jordan's stories that are missed in the 10-hour documentary “The Last Dance” — and there are many such incidences & anecdotes that happened during Jordan's Career. The American basketball wizard’s career is so full of legendary tales that it’s objectively not possible to accommodate in a 10-hours documentary.