The Last Dance: Things left to explore after episodes 1 and 2
By Matthew Way
The Resolution of the Scottie Pippen Issue
A documentary about one of the most iconic teams of all-time should not keep you on the edge of your seat as much as The Last Dance did in exploring the dynamics of Scottie Pippen’s tenuous relationship with Jerry Krause and the entire Chicago Bulls organization.
The second episode concluded with what in real-time would be classified as a cliffhanger.
With the team’s future up in the air, Pippen felt like the odd man out. Feeling disrespected, he delayed offseason surgery until October because he didn’t want it to ruin his summer. Imagine the headlines if a superstar did that in today’s age.
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Still, he had every reason to feel disrespected. He shouldn’t expect to get treated like Michael Jordan. But Phil Jackson got paid too. And Pippen was on perhaps the most team-friendly deal of all-time being the 122nd highest-paid player in the league.
But we know what happens. the Arkansas native played 44 games in the season focused on by the series. What many of us don’t know is how exactly it all was resolved.
The Jerry Krause-led front office already took a beating in the first two episodes for its insistence on being credited with the organization’s success. Does the relationship between the players and executives strain even further? Does Pippen’s return help resolve them? And how does it affect the team as a whole?
Candid insight into the answers to those questions should be compelling.