• Report.Michael Jordan, beyond 'The Last Dance': bets, pressures and the shadows of his career

The Netflix and ESPN documentary 'The Last Dance', which reviews the life of Michael Jordan and especially his 1997-1998 season with the Chicago Bulls, is one of the sensations of the year. With half the world confined to their homes, it is the most watched on Netflix in multiple countries and in the United States it registered a millionaire audience on ESPN. Most viewers have rated it very positively, but there are some protagonists of it who do not see it as good. This is the case of Toni Kukoc. The Bulls forward between 1993 and 2000, fundamental in that sixth ring of the franchise, considers that the images do not correspond to reality.

"I hope the rest of the episodes [only two out of 10 have aired] are brighter, a celebration of basketball, rather than a search for culprits as to why we didn't win eight or 10 championships," Kukov replied in a telephone interview on Friday. with NBC. "We were all happy when this happened. I don't quite understand why in the documentary people appear so angry."

Kukoc, who is currently an adviser to Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf, laughed at the seriousness of the documentary to everyday scenes. An example: when Jordan made fun of Bill Wennington, substitute center of the team, while Kukoc himself calmly read the newspaper in a seat of the bus. "We did great things, we worked very hard, we were very focused. We won six rings in eight years, I don't understand why you have to look for a dark part."

During the interview with the American television network, Kukoc joined critics who consider that the documentary underestimates the figure of Jerry Krause, the Bulls general manager confronted Jordan and Scottie Pippen for various reasons. Kukoc, who was selected by Krause in the second round of the draft in 1990, and negotiated with him for three years to jump into the NBA, defended the late leader.

"During those three years where I was playing in Europe and he was trying to convince me, his speech was firm. He always told me: 'We have an incredible coach, we have incredible athletes like MJ and Scottie, we have incredible veterans like John Paxson or Bill Cartwirght. He was very proud of the team. He explained to me how much he would enjoy playing with MJ on one side and Scottie on the other. At no time: 'I built this team, I won this.' He always praised the players, the team. " .

"People who didn't live with us now can say, 'My gosh, Jerry destroyed the team because of his ego. Why do they despise him? He is no longer with us and cannot defend himself. He was the CEO of a team that he won six NBA titles. Name me five other people in the world who would do what he did, in any sport. "

In fact, in the same interview, Kukoc assured that he did not know the problems between Krause and the coach of that team, Phil Jackson, until he saw the first two chapters of the documentary. "Maybe I was ignorant, but when you train every day, and take care of your family and your businesses, you don't have time for those things. I suppose it is also due to Phil, who always had us in a bubble. I knew that Michael didn't it would go on if another coach was hired, just that. "

The Chicago Bulls of that 1997-1998 season not only won the title, they did so emphatically. They just needed to make it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Precisely in that game Kukoc scored 21 crucial points to reach the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.

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