When the first take of Last Dance was filmed, nobody expected Michael Jordan to break down. But he was adamant about defending his valor.
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When Michael Jordan’s tell-all documentary series, The Last Dance was released, it was met with a lot of critical reception. The good kind. Among the many pivotal parts of the series, one stood out the most to us fans.
It was the ending of episode 7 when MJ cried. Not balling your eyes out crying but more like shaky voice, single teardrop, kind of crying. For a brief moment, we got a peek behind what Jordan was as a human. Before that, we only knew him as a competitor.
That he was, the fiercest competitor the NBA has ever seen. He terrified teammates and opponents alike. But it would seem that nobody truly understood his mystique.
He shuddered when talking about why he was viewed as a villain, despite his winningness. Jordan was awash with emotion when talking about how people failed to understand him.
He wasn’t competitive by nature, but by design. Incidentally, this took place at the start of filming and not towards the tail end. Jason Hehir, the director revealed the premise behind the emotionally charged scene.
Also read: Multi Billionaire Michael Jordan explained why he was a ‘tyrant’ at 6x NBA champs Bulls
Jason Hehir reveals Michael Jordan started crying 45 minutes into filming
In an episode on Jalen and Jacoby, director Jason Hehir revealed that the scene from episode 7 came about just 45 minutes into filming.
It stemmed from the fact that everyone saw MJ as this nefarious “win at all costs” guy, while he didn’t deny his drive, Jordan said that he was built like that because he wanted everyone else to win too.
Admitting that it was the only way he knew how to play, in his words ” I’m only doing it because it is who I am. That’s how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don’t want to play that way…don’t play that way, break”
A teary-eyed Jordan asked for a break at the end of this scene. The emotional resonance it created finally bridged him to his audiences. A lot of people viewed this as the defining moment of the series.
Revisiting it, we can totally see why it was left for the end. While the stories were not linear during filming, they managed to iron them out into the final product quite well.
What do you think? Is MJ a villain? Do you side with him? Let us know in the comments below.
