Michael Jordan's vulnerability highlights latest episodes of 'The Last Dance'

SI's Ben Pickman and Robin Lundberg discuss the most compelling moments in episodes 7 & 8 of 'The Last Dance'

SI's Ben Pickman and Robin Lundberg discuss the most compelling moments in episodes 7 & 8 of 'The Last Dance'

Read the full video transcript: 

Robin Lundberg: Episode seven and eight of 'The Last Dance' are in the books, and to get a reaction, I'm joined now by our Ben Pickman. Ben, I thought these episodes both humanized and lionized Michael Jordan.

Ben Pickman: Without a doubt. Robin, I think this is probably most raw and emotional Jordan that we've seen throughout this documentary. You think of some of the key moments throughout Episode 7 and 8, the murder of his father, James. Right. The transition into baseball. And that ties back to his father, the continued mention of his father. We have the moment at the end of Episode 7 in which he literally asked for a break because he is so moved after asking about the intensity of himself and doing some self-reflection. And of course, at the end of Episode 8, following their title over the Sonics, we see an emotional, teary eyed Jordan sprawled out on the locker room for breaking down. I thought this was an incredibly raw and introspective and frankly more honest Michael Jordan than I think we're used to seeing. 

The end of Episode 7 ... WOW.#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/N3c5lN0mLI

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 11, 2020

Robin Lundberg: Him coming back and winning on Father's Day. A moment, indeed. But another focus was, you know, his competitiveness, which has been a thread throughout the entire series. It's something we knew going in. I do kind of think they might be hitting this over the head with it a little bit. 

Ben Pickman: Yeah. I think it's certainly a little heavy handed. And we certainly got a lot of stories from those teammates in these last two episodes. And I think one other thing you need to consider is that if you look at this documentary, I'm not so sure. And look, I love it. I'm very entertained by it. I think we all are. Robin, you would certainly agree. I think we've gotten a lot out of it. And it's great to revisit Michael Jordan, but I don't know if it was historically in-depth piece on Michael Jordan that you can read. You know, we're kind of having these brief forays into the death of James Jordan. Michael Jordan's gambling prowess, the baseball interlude. You know, we haven't really drilled into those in the way you might expect. We have gotten, as you mentioned, know a lot of the competitive Michael Jordan stories over and over and over again. I love the doc just like the next person. But there are some things still to be desired, I think.

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