Rozner: Take it from Isiah, Jordan was a 'coldblooded killer on the court'
It's a cute title. Really.
"The Last Dance" works nicely as a Phil Jackson theme and it's eminently suitable for younger viewers.
If this had been strictly a Netflix or Hulu production, it could have easily been called, "The Making of an Assassin."
For those somehow previously unaware, Michael Jordan was the epitome of cutthroat, preceding Tiger Woods and following Muhammad Ali on a very short list of the greatest athletes of all time, supreme talent combined with a desire to ruin the competition.
All used insults against them, often perceived and occasionally even invented, merely to give them proper motivation for wanting to terminate.
With scenes from inside, "The Last Dance" is showing us a bit of that.
It's not surprising that the series did a brisk business Sunday night in the sports abyss we're living through, premiering with two episodes as the most-viewed ESPN documentary content ever, averaging 6.1 million viewers, the most-watched telecast among the key demo - adults 18-34 and 18-49 - since sports were halted.
It dominated social media as well, the top trending topic Sunday on Twitter - and at one point with 25 of the 30 trending topics related to the show. It was also the top Google search in the States on Sunday.
It was a spectacular and thrilling break from current events.
But the series is just beginning to offer a glimpse into the ferocity with which Jordan needed to win, a characteristic that went far beyond his status as the greatest basketball player ever.
Jordan lived to destroy and conquer, qualities that are not often looked at positively in the current environment of trophies, ribbons and blank scoreboards.
Losing was not an option, and in the episodes ahead you will see more of Jordan screaming at teammates and demanding more from them, whether in games or practice, taking soft creatures and turning them into monsters.
Consider a conversation I had with Isiah Thomas on the court before Game 6 in Utah in 1998 when Thomas was working for NBC. And you need not be reminded that Jordan and Thomas hated each other.
Even so, Thomas had no sympathy for the Jazz, who were about to go home empty-handed again.
"Had my franchise ruined by Michael Jordan," said Thomas with a grin. "Been there, done that.
"Michael Jordan is a franchise-wrecker. He ruins teams. He ruins people. He ruins lives. He ends careers. He's a killer. A coldblooded killer on the court."
Thomas was just as brutal on the court and as much as they disliked one another - Jordan owning Thomas' hometown and the entire NBA - deep down there seemed a hint of admiration from Thomas, himself an ultracompetitive athlete who took no prisoners.
It was the "Bad Boys" from Detroit who defeated the Bulls and beat them up in three straight seasons before the Bulls swept them in 1991 in that infamous Game 4, when the Pistons walked off the court like clowns without acknowledging Jordan and the Bulls.
"We won two straight titles in Detroit and he ended that (in 1991) and we broke up the team," Thomas said minus any emotion. "The Lakers faced them in the Finals (in 1991) and that was the end of that team.
"You never heard from Portland again after he beat them (in 1992). Phoenix was done after he beat them (in 1993).
"Seattle hasn't been heard from since '96 when Jordan beat them, and now Utah's getting old, waiting for Michael to go away. This might have been their last shot, too, because that team has some age on it."
Thomas didn't have to bring up Cleveland, a team the Bulls took out four times, or the Knicks, a club the Bulls eliminated in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996.
"There's people all over the NBA going, 'When do I get my chance.' But people get old waiting for that to happen," Thomas said that night in 1998. "If Michael hadn't left (after 1993), there's no doubt in my mind that they would have won eight straight, and you'd have the people in Houston (1994 and 1995 champs) saying the same things.
"They'd be walking around the streets mumbling to themselves about Michael Jordan and what he's done to their lives."
You see many players making friends during games in all sports these days, helping each other up and careful not to hurt anyone's feelings, on the field or off.
The GOAT came from a different time and was taught that the guy opposite him on the court was trying to take what he wanted, and Jordan would have none of it.
He wasn't interested in being nice, making friends or stumping for votes. He didn't want to leave the court in any game or practice without a victory. He didn't live to be loved.
Michael Jordan lived for daggers.