ESPN moves air date for Bulls documentary to April 19
There's good news for sports fans running out of things to watch on television.
ESPN announced it is moving up the air date of "The Last Dance" documentary, which features behind-the-scenes footage of the Bulls' final championship season of the Michael Jordan era in 1997-98.
The 10-part series will premiere on April 19 with the first two episodes and will continue weekly through May 17. It was originally scheduled for the summer when the NBA season was over.
According to sources, the footage was shot by an NBA Entertainment crew for an unspecified project.
When Jordan retired temporarily after the 1998 season, the Bulls broke up and the NBA began the following season with a player lockout, the video was shelved. Jordan finally gave his blessing for the documentary to go forward and ESPN began teasing its arrival months ago with short clips, and a long list of participants and celebrities doing sit-down interviews.
The 1997-98 Bulls will always be one of the most star-studded and memorable teams in NBA history, with Jordan, coach Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley, Bill Wennington and others.
"This project celebrates one of the greatest players and dynasties ever, and we hope it can serve as a unifying entertainment experience to fill the role that sports often play in our lives, telling a story that will captivate everyone, not just sports fans," ESPN said in a statement.
• There was also news of a players-only NBA2K video tournament, which may be airing on ESPN this weekend. Bulls guard Zach LaVine is expected to be one of 16 participants. Some others listed are Brooklyn's Kevin Durant, Atlanta's Trae Young, Utah's Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland's Andre Drummond, Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins and Chicago native Patrick Beverley from the Clippers.
The Bulls were supposed to be on a challenging five-game West Coast road trip right now, with a game scheduled in Utah on Monday, followed by Denver, Phoenix, the Clippers and Lakers. T
he NBA was the first professional league to suspend operations due to coronavirus concerns March 11.