Craig Ehlo discusses “The Shot” and “The Last Dance” in an interview with Chris Fedor in The Wine and Gold Talk podcast. It’s an amazing story, as Michael Jordan explained in “The Last Dance” that he felt that Lenny Wilkins made a mistake putting Ehlo on him over Ron Harper. Harper claimed that he asked Wilkins to guard Jordan but claimed that Wilkins said no.
Ehlo took no offense by anything in the documentary but didn’t remember Harper saying anything like that, though Ehlo concedes that Harper may have said something directly to Jordan.
It’s a great interview, as Ehlo is a class act, and he tells some great Jordan stories that show a good side of Jordan.
“The Last Dance” was always going to be a significant TV event, given the topic of Michael Jordan and his last championship run in Chicago. But obviously, with all of us thirsting for sports during this pandemic, everyone is watching this documentary.
Having lived through this, the documentary brought back some great memories. I wasn’t a Bulls fan, but like everyone I respected the brilliance of Michael Jordan. I always rooted for him in The Finals.
“The Last Dance” covers the drama of this last title run while also telling the backstory of the key figures like Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson. And of course it covers all the drama surrounding Jerry Krause and the tension between the front office, Jackson, Jordan and Pippen.
So many things stand out from the first two episodes. Of course, the whole Michael Jordan backstory is always fun to watch. I had forgotten about Jordan’s offensive explosion against Larry Bird and the 1986 Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Pippen’s backstory was also fascinating, seeing his challenging family situation and how he managed to work hard at a small college and get to the NBA.
I remember at the time how ridiculous the situation seemed when the Bulls made it clear that season would be Jackson’s last season. In some way it was a relief for the rest of the NBA. Now we get to see the behind the scenes look at how it all played out . . . the rest of this documentary series should be just as fun.
