The 1998 Chicago Bulls weren’t merely entertainers on the court.
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With The Last Dance giving us viewers an inside scoop into the ’98 Bulls, perspective has shifted to how troubled the team was over how great they were. With Scottie‘s contract extension, Michael’s age, and Rodman’s madness, the Bulls dominated headlines off the court too.
Dennis Rodman’s vacation during the 1997-98 NBA season was one of the most iconic stories from the lot. The disgruntled Bulls star asked coach Phil Jackson for a vacation during the season. His “48-hour” vacation was covered extensively in The Last Dance.
With Carmen Electra stating that Michael Jordan literally woke them up during vacation, the media went for a picnic. After all, it isn’t every day that a legendary player has to wake up a fellow Hall of Famer from a prolonged vacation.
The assumption and the narrative built. This story was bent to an extent that people genuinely believed the GOAT traveled to Las Vegas to wake his teammate up.
However, director Jason Hehir provided a clarification that solved the mystery around the story.
Did Michael Jordan actually wake Dennis Rodman up from vacation?
Well, a part of Carmen Electra’s story was true. Actually, the entire story was true, just the filling of blanks in it by the media wasn’t.
Michael Jordan did wake Dennis Rodman up. Just, not from Las Vegas.
Jordan lived across the street from Dennis Rodman. Rodman had arrived in Chicago after his vacation, but he just extended his vacation to his Chicago residence.
On being made aware of the same, and after Rodman’s vacation extended beyond the permitted time, MJ stepped in. The leader of the Chicago Bulls assumed command and decided to take matters into his own hands.
MJ strode across the street, woke Dennis Rodman up, and grabbed him by his nose ring, according to Hehir. Rodman did eventually turn up for practice after MJs appearance and was key to their championship run.
Michael Jordan was the ultimate alpha male. A teammate misbehaving and undermining authority in his presence would not have stuck out well to MJ. This incident describes how seriously the man took things when it came to basketball.
Mentality maketh a man. Michael Jordan was the man.
