What the post-90s generation learned by watching The Last Dance

The Bulls’ “Traveling Cocaine Circus”

The Last Dance promised to deliver an extensive behind-the-scenes look at Michael Jordan’s influence on the Chicago Bulls dynasty, and the doc fulfilled its pledge minutes into its inception. Before the Bulls became an Eastern Conference juggernaut, they were advertised as a laughingstock, and Jordan, who was drafted in 1984, experienced those shortcomings first hand.

However, younger generation folks like myself weren’t exactly expecting MJ to retell the story of walking into a teammate’s hotel room as a rookie and witnessing a drug-infested get-together.

"“They open up the door. I walk in and practically the whole team was in there,” Jordan recounted. “And it was like things I’ve never seen in my life as a young kid. You got your lines over here, your weed smokers over here, you’ve got your women over here.” “The first thing I said, ‘Look, man, I’m out.’ Cause all I can about think is, if they come and raid this place right about now, I am just as guilty as everyone else that’s in this room. And from that point on, I was more or less on my own.”"

Thus, the iconic title of the “traveling cocaine circus” was born. For those that aren’t aware, there was a serious cocaine outbreak across the NBA in 1970s and 80s, and it was difficult for commissioner David Stern (rest in peace), who took the post in 1984, to pull the league out of the gutter.

Thankfully, Jordan’s unwavering drive to improve his craft persuaded him not to partake in his teammates’ horseplay, to put it in more gentle terms. It was at this point in The Last Dance that basketball lovers knew that they were in for a real treat.