Ahead of the debut of a documentary series highlighting Michael Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls in 1997-98 entitled The Last Dance, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discussed what it took for Jordan to allow access to the team during that year.
According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Silver said he pitched MJ on the idea by telling him that the footage collected would not air unless Jordan gave his permission to do so:
"There was no negotiation whatsoever. All I said was, 'I'm sure there'll maybe be a tough negotiation at some point, but we don't have to have it now.' Because first and foremost, we have to capture the footage.
"Our agreement will be that neither one of us can use this footage without the other's permission. It will be kept—I mean literally it was physical film—as a separate part of our Secaucus, [New Jersey] library. Our producers won't have access to it. It will only be used with your permission."
The film's producer, Mike Tollin, said they convinced Jordan to let them use the footage during the Cleveland Cavaliers' NBA title parade in 2016:
"So there's Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], there's Hank Aaron, there's 'Varsity Blues,' there's 'Coach Carter' and so forth," Tollin said. "He's actually looking at them all, and in the bottom right corner is 'Iverson.' He goes, 'You did that?'"
[...]
Tollin mumbled a cautious, "Yes."
Jordan took his glasses off, looked up and said, "I watched that thing three times. Made me cry. Love that little guy."
Then he walked around the desk, extended his hand and said, "Let's do it."
The documentary will begin airing Sunday on ESPN and will run for five consecutive weeks.
When Jordan agreed to allow a film crew to follow the Bulls in 1997-98, Silver was the president and COO of NBA Entertainment. It was NBA Entertainment producer Andy Thompson who conceived the idea of documenting Jordan's last year.
Thompson, who is the brother of former Los Angeles Lakers star Mychal Thompson and uncle of current Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, said: "I remember thinking, 'Man, this guy is going to retire. And we've never really fully documented a year in the life of potentially the greatest athlete in the history of the sport.'"
The footage sat dormant for years and may have never seen the light of day if not for Tollin, who learned of it from Jordan's longtime agent, David Falk.
Tollin got a meeting with Jordan in June 2016 and presented him with a lookbook that detailed his plan for the storylines that would play out in the documentary.
After examining Tollin's pitch carefully, His Airness finally gave him the go-ahead.
The Last Dance was originally scheduled to begin airing in June to coincide with the 2020 NBA Finals, but with the NBA season suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN moved the start date to Sunday.
With sports fans starved for content, there is little doubt that The Last Dance will send them flocking to ESPN so they can enjoy the story of Jordan's spearheading a championship three-peat for the second time.
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April 19, 2020 at 12:50AM
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Adam Silver Reveals Negotiations with Michael Jordan to Make 'The Last Dance' - Bleacher Report
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