The Last Dance: A Documentary on Michael Jordan’s Final Championship Season with the Bulls Finally Gets a Premiere Date
The highly anticipated documentary about the last season in which Michael Jordan won a championship with the Chicago Bulls finally has a premiere date.
ESPN and Netflix announced on Tuesday that "The Last Dance," a 10-episode documentary series, will air in the United States for five consecutive Sundays from April 19 to May 17. Each episode will be two hours long.
"April 19th can't come fast enough. I CAN NOT WAIT!!" tweeted LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, upon learning about the series premiere.
April 19th can’t come fast enough. I CAN NOT WAIT!! --Yessir!-- #LastDance
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 31, 2020
The documentary will feature unseen footage from that season, in which the Bulls went for their sixth championship in eight years.
"As a society navigating this time without live sports, viewers are still looking to the sports world for an escape and a collective experience," ESPN said in a statement.
"We heard the calls from fans asking us to move up the release date of this series, and we are happy to announce that we could accelerate the production schedules to do so."
ESPN had initially planned to air the documentary in June, coinciding with the NBA Finals this season. With no sports to broadcast right now due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the network fast-tracked those plans.
This is a documentary that has taken almost a quarter of a century to produce. It was conceived in the fall of 1997, when Jordan, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and coach Phil Jackson allowed NBA Entertainment cameras to follow the team throughout the entire season.
ESPN said the series includes "extensive profiles of Jordan's key teammates, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr," as well as Jackson.
"Michael Jordan and the 90s Bulls were not only sports superstars, they were a global phenomenon," said Jason Hehir, the director of the series. "Producing 'The Last Dance' was an incredible opportunity to explore the extraordinary impact of a man and a team. For nearly three years, we thoroughly investigated to present the definitive story of a dynasty that defined an era and to present these sports heroes as humans."
The series will be broadcast in the United States on ESPN and internationally on Netflix. Netflix subscribers will be able to watch two new episodes every Monday from April 20 to May 18. (D)