The Last Dance Episode 3 Review

Episode 3 of the Last Dance Documentary presented an in depth look a Dennis Rodmans’ lifestyle, personality, and his contributions to the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls basketball team. This episode was released at 9pm on ESPN this past Sunday night, April 26th, 2020. As well as showcasing Rodman’s benefit to the Bulls, this episode also goes into detail on how MJ brought the bulls to the top of the league and maintained that leadership spot for years to come.

(spoilers following)

To follow-up two sensational first episodes that displayed the journey of the Bulls with the legend Michael Jordan, this episode followed the same storyline while taking a deeper look on star Dennis Rodman. Under Doug Collins the Bulls were emerging as one of the greatest teams in the Eastern Conference at the time. However, the one team the Bulls could not get by was the Detroit Pistons. Rodman was an elite defender in the NBA during his time in the league playing with the bad boy Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and then followed by the Chicago bulls. The Bulls added Rodman to their team as Jordan desperately needed some help with Scottie Pippen absent.

When Rodman was motivated and focused on basketball he helped Jordan continue to win, however this was certainly not every game due to Rodman’s personality disorder and party lifestyle. When Rodman was on the court with no distractions he was a menace on the glass and provided the Bulls with that physical strength component that they needed to have playing the nasty Detroit Pistons year after year. The Pistons brutalized Jordan and other stars by pummeling them into the floor every time they attempted to drive to the paint which took an immense toll on Jordan and other players as well. Now having what some people call the most controversial player in the NBA, the Bulls tightened his act up which allowed their team to develop into an immediate title contender. At first this move by the Bulls was heavily questioned by the league due to Rodman’s unpredictability and mental health condition. Having MJ and Pippen as strong leaders, over time the Bulls brought out the best version of Rodman which allowed them to add that toughness aspect to their team which was essential in beating teams like Detroit.

Overall this episode is an integral piece that showcased how the Bulls went from a playoff team to the leading team in the NBA. To see MJ’s development into the GOAT, the development of Pippen into an all star, and with the main focus on Rodman’s contributions to the team despite his personal concerns this is a phenomenal episode to watch. If you want to get a little bit of a deeper view on how this team thrived together and was put together to take on the bad boy Pistons which then allowed them to win an Nba championship.