The Last Dance (documentary series): This is the best thing on TV right now

Full Disclosure: This series was always going to be more interesting to me because I was a kid / teenager during the time that a lot of it focuses on.

The Last Dance is a 10-part series that focuses on the rise of the Chicago Bulls as a dominant force in the NBA due primarily to the introduction of the most famous basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan.

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To be fair to the rest of the Bulls involved, even Michael with all his undeniable talent recognizes that the rest of the team in Pippen, Rodman, Kerr, and others, the Bulls wouldn't have won so many games and championships, and this is evidenced in the early years where Jordan scored near 60 points in a losing series vs. the Boston Celtics in the playoffs and the Bulls still lost pretty badly actually.

I learned a lot of stuff in just the first 2 episodes that I didn't know before such as the politics in the management, the bad blood between various players, and the fact that Scotty Pippen set up a terrible deal for himself that resulted in him making very little money considering his importance to the Chicago side.

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_{Was there ever a more famous duo in basketball?}

I also didn't know that Scotty didn't even play basketball at first when he was studying at a relatively unknown Central Arkansas university and when he entered the draft nobody really even knew who he was. I also had no idea that he negotiated such a terrible contract with the Bulls that eventually lead to him being one of the top five players in the NBA but was number 122 as far as salary was concerned - and there was NOTHING he could do to change that.

So, maybe I should shut up about the details... that's just one spoiler but since it is likely in his wiki anyway, it isn't that bad.

The main reason why this show is so epic is because of the production value and the way that they tell the story. It almost seems as though you are watching some gripping sports film that has plenty of drama and even villains.

There's also plenty of footage, much of which has never been aired before that takes us back in time to kind of present this as an "origin" story.

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_{There's also plenty of footage with Michael's signature "tongue out" approach to scoring}

If you were alive when the Bulls went from non issue team, to still kinda shitty team with one amazing player, to the best team in the world who wins 3 championships in a row, this will be a great ride for ya. If you weren't alive or are not a basketball fan, you probably still know who Michael Jordan is, and this will help you to understand how it is that he came to be the most famous athlete in the world, perhaps of all time.

While it is officially released by ESPN, Netflix gets to air it on the same day that it is released over there. I sat down last night to watch a bit of it and ended up staying glued to the screen for 2 episodes (the only ones that exist right now.) Now I'm a little upset because I have to wait 4 more days to see the next 2.

This might be one of the best docuseries ever made, especially if you are a fan of the NBA or barring that, history of one of the greatest sports franchises ever.