The Michael Jordan tapes: ESPN documentary serves up 10 hours of his excellence
ESPN's long-awaited 10-part documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the Last Dance, debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday.
The series focuses on the 1997-98 season, the last of the six seasons in the 1990s when Jordan led the Bulls to an NBA championship. It is based on hundreds of hours of never-before-seen video, much of it compiled by Andy Thompson, a former Gophers basketball player and the brother of Gophers great and NBA star Mychal Thompson.
As a guide to the series, here are three Star Tribune articles and a link to others that provide some context -- both for the greatness of the 1990s Chicago Bulls and the how the final season of their dynasty will play out more than 20 years later. TV critic Neal Justin reviews the series, NBA writer Chris Hines writes about Thompson and reporter Jeff Day writes an essay about what Jordan meant to him while growing up in the Midwest.
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On Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast, host Michael Rand picks apart Shaquille O’Neal’s bizarre, attention-seeking assertion that Rudy Gobert is the worst player in the NBA. Plus he talks Vikings and Twins and shares the story of a local baseball fan with a home run ball that got away.
