My 'Last Dance' with Michael Jordan and the Bulls - From A Mavs Angle

As 'The Last Dance' debuts on ESPN, I reflect on my one night around Michael Jordan and the circus that was the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls ... From A Dallas Mavericks angle

‘The Last Dance,’ the epic documentary about Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls is here. I’ll be glued to the set, and not just because there are no games to watch. 

Jordan is my all-time NBA G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All-Time). I realize that acronym comes loaded with subtext and debate. I was a child of the NBA in the 1980s and 1990s. I grew up with Magic, Larry, Michael and Zeke (Isiah Thomas). For those that grew up in different eras, it might be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Bill Russell or Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. I believe that GOATs are products of the time you grew up in, when your fandom of sports was at its height. For me, it’s Jordan, and it’s because once he started winning, he never stopped (unless he stopped to play baseball). Just about every time the Bulls needed a clutch basket, Jordan had it. No matter the situation. That’s what GOATs do. And that’s why he’s mine.

‘The Last Dance’ is culled from more than 500 hours of behind-the-scenes footage of that 1997-98 season, the season everyone assumed would be Jordan’s last in Chicago (it was, but it wasn’t his final NBA season). As the 10-part epic unfolds over the next five weeks, I’m hoping to see a lot of things I haven’t seen before. 

Including myself.

Host Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim), and correspondents Jamie Lisanti (@jdlisanti), Jessica Smetana (@jessica_smetana) and Priya Desai (@priyadesai) dive into the SI Vault to uncover the best stories on the biggest legends in sports history: https://t.co/Qhbssts6AY pic.twitter.com/0KcNaUC1zu

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 18, 2020

Back in 1998 I was a sportswriter for the Corsicana Daily Sun in Corsicana, Texas. Before that I was a die-hard Dallas Mavericks fan and someone who basically watched every sport I could get my hands on. I went to a Mavs game the team’s first season in Reunion Arena. But, by the time Jordan debuted in the NBA I had moved to East Texas, and every time the Bulls came to Dallas, getting to Reunion proved problematic.

When I took the job in the summer of 1997 it came with an unexpected perk — Mavs credentials. The sports editors before me had paved the way and with just an hour between me and downtown Dallas, I burned plenty of gas up and down I-45 that winter covering Mavs games. What made it perfect was Corsicana was an afternoon paper. So by noon my day was done, unless I had games to cover.

I covered roughly half the home games that season. I made that auxiliary press row at Reunion Arena my second home (and it would have made a better apartment than the one I had). I managed to talk my way onto the floor to shoot a few games with my Dad’s Pentax 35mm camera that he bought while on leave in Australia during Vietnam. Seattle’s Gary Payton nearly ran over me one night. 

But when I saw that schedule, one night stood out — Thursday, March 12, 1998. The Bulls’ only visit to Dallas. I had never seen Jordan in person. This was my last shot, I thought to myself. The night was perfect. Thursday isn’t a heavy high school sports night. So off I went.

It’s hard to explain exactly what it was like being around those Bulls, even for one night. Yes, those nights that players like Kobe, LeBron and Steph Curry come to Dallas, the pre-game crowds can be pretty impressive. But the pre-game crowd for the Bulls that night in March of 1998 were just insane. What helped was that the Mavs were just plain bad that season. There was no Dirk Nowitzki or Steve Nash at that point. Just Michael Finley. The Bulls coming to town was a huge deal. It was basically a circus. It was the rare time that season I saw Reunion Arena full. 

Everyone wanted a piece of ‘The Last Dance,’ with everyone assuming that it would be.

I hit press row way early. My best friend, Chuck Cox, then working for the Tyler Morning Telegraph, had his own credential for the game. I got there early, in part, because I wanted a Bulls media guide, and I got the next-to-last one. I still have it today. Out on the arena floor, the atmosphere was crazy. I had my camera with me that night. I didn’t intend to shoot the game, but I wanted some shots of pregame, just one shot of Jordan for my archives. One of those photos is below. It’s acceptable, at least by journalistic standards.

Chicago's Michael Jordan :: Matthew Postins/DallasBasketball.com

By the time the Bulls hit Dallas they were 46-16 and they were on a streak in which they had won 12 of their last 13 games. The Bulls had just played five of six games at home, so they came to Dallas well-rested. The Mavericks, meanwhile, were 13-49. March Madness was about to start and this felt like a No. 1 seed facing a No. 16 seed. Few people were walking around thinking the Mavs were going to shock the world.

Well … enter Cedric Ceballos.

If you’re going to ask me to rank the Top 10 moments in Mavs history, I’m going to find a way to sneak this shot in there somewhere. The whole thing was just absurd. The Bulls weren’t sharp that night, but even as the game came to the end of the regulation, the Bulls were still in line to win. And then, Ced. Overtime. Chuck was on the other side of press row and we just looked at each other like, ‘What did we just see?’

A few minutes later we saw the Mavs win in overtime, 104-97. Mind-boggling. Now, normally, I would have headed to the Mavs’ locker room after a win like that. But, in this case, with the Bulls in town and with the possibility that this was Jordan’s last season in Chicago (or in the NBA for that matter), Chuck and I headed for the Bulls locker room at Reunion. Upon arriving we found Bulls head coach Phil Jackson talking to the media outside. At that point, the locker room was open and we headed inside.

To our right was Scottie Pippen. He was already showered and dressed, so Chuck headed over to talk with him. Naturally, I was waiting for Jordan, but I loitered on the outskirts of the group talking with Pippen. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking to the locker behind me. I turned around, and draped in a couple of towels after just getting out of the shower, was Jordan.

Now, I didn’t know much about Jordan’s post-game routine, but I had heard this — he preferred to get dressed before he talked with the media. He was always ‘on brand,’ and there was no brand with more heft in professional sports at that time than Jordan’s (and I have an example of that forthcoming). So I stood there, his back to me, and waited for him to dress. To my amazement, no one seemed to notice. 

A minute passed, and then two, and I actually stood there thinking to myself, ‘Am I REALLY going to be the only person here to talk to Jordan?’

Ah, how naïve I was. Jordan finally turned around, fully dressed and adjusted his tie. Those of us who have interviewed athletes know the ‘go ahead’ sign, the moment said athlete is ready to talk. I was just about to get it when, as if by divine force, EVERYONE in the locker room realized that Jordan was about to talk. How did I know? Because my 5-foot-8 frame became the camera stand for every Dallas-Fort Worth area TV station in that moment. I gradually sank from 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-4 as the weight of those cameras were set on my shoulders. Suddenly, I wasn’t getting an exclusive with Jordan. I was just trying to remain standing.

That lasted for about five minutes. Jordan, understandably, wasn’t in much of a mood to talk. The Bulls were off to San Antonio right after that and he had a plane to catch. So he wrapped it up. But we weren’t quite done. First, I had to get back to my original height after the cameras came off my shoulders. After that, a few media members lingered. One, in particular, worked for a local radio station, I think. It was someone I had never seen before and I never saw again. He took a moment to tap Jordan on the shoulder, getting his attention and told Jordan that he was ‘wearing his cologne” in a way that was in no way weird (except it totally was).

Jordan said thanks and headed for the door, but the look on his face was something I have never forgotten. It basically said, ‘That just happened, right?’

And, with that, my ‘Last Dance’ with Jordan ended.

The Bulls would, of course, go on to win the title in June, beating the Utah Jazz in six games. With that, the ‘Running of the Bulls’ ended. Six titles in eight seasons. Jordan with six NBA Finals most valuable player awards. Jackson left. So did Jordan, retired for three season before returning once again to play for Washington. The dynasty ended. The inevitability of time finally caught up to Chicago.

But we have the memories. And starting April 19, we get to relive them all over again. I’m looking forward to my cameo (tongue planted firmly in cheek).

Let’s dance. One last time, shall we?