It is a dive into the NBA of the 90s, the start of the "star-system" League wanted by its boss, David Stern, and the advent of the "gondola head" of the discipline, Michael Jordan. In the United States, an average of 6 million viewers are every evening in front of ESPN to watch The Last Dance . Netflix does not communicate on its audience figures, but according to some analysts, The Last Dance is the most watched, commented and most sought-after series in the world.
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Another basketball that legitimizes Jordan even more
In France too it is a great success. An unconditional basketball fan, Vianney is faithful to the job every Monday at 9 a.m. He tastes the episodes without excess. "I’m really impatient every Monday, but I force myself to stagger a little, so I watch the first one right away, then I keep the second one for the week, especially since at the moment we don't have a sport ", he explains to Europe 1." Inevitably, it brings back memories, I watched the final 91 (won by the Bulls against the Los Angeles Lakers, note) at my grandfather when I was little , it brings back a lot of things, it made us dream, that's what made us love basketball. "
Michael Jordan, absolute star of the 90s, is a Proust madeleine for the thirties and a discovery for the new generation who swears by Lebron James, the star of the Los Angeles Lakers. While today's players have little or no roughness, this documentary can only strengthen the legend Jordan. "It seems that Michael Jordan finally agreed to make the documentary from the moment when LeBron James started to align the titles", advance on Europe 1 Georges Eddy, THE voice of the NBA in France for Canal Plus. "He wanted to show the younger generation that basketball did not start with LeBron James. Before him, there were also big stars, Jordan in mind."
And to recall that today's sanitized basketball has nothing to do with that of 30 years ago. "We can clearly see in this documentary that it's not the same basketball in the 90's at all, there was much less 3-point shooting, it was more physical, much more defense, it was difficult to exceed 100 points while now we are exceeding them very easily. We discover another era, other players and above all another basketball. "
Jordan's shadow share "humanizes"
In this documentary of 10 episodes of 50 minutes, Michael Jordan is almost exposed. We can see his dark side, his penchant for gambling, betting for thousands of dollars, or his almost tyrannical behavior with his partners. "Like every human being, Jordan had weaknesses in his character, especially the game, it was not a kind of overpowering demigod, thanks to the documentary we see that Michael Jordan is a bit like us too", appreciates Georges Eddy.
There remains the age-old debate on GOAT, The Greatest of all time (the best of all time, note). "Jordan himself says that it's pivotal Bill Russel, who won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics of the 1960s. He's in front of everyone," rewinds Georges Eddy. "But if we want to compare to LeBron James, Jordan won 6 NBA titles in 6 finals by being 6 times MVP of the finals, James disputed 9 for 3 victories. This debate must be broadened, we can add Abdul- Jabbar, Bryant, Magic Jonhson. It's kind of sterile to just compare Jordan to LeBron. "
If the debate is likely to continue, The Last Dance is nonetheless a box of audiences, but also a boon for the business. For example, Jordan's ex-Franchise, chicago Bulls, saw its derivatives revenue increase by 45% after the broadcast of the first episode. And Jordan products, eponymous brand, are also snapping up.