'The Last Dance' Episode 3: The moment coach Doug Collins kissed Michael Jordan
Spoilers for 'The Last Dance' Episode 3
Dennis Rodman and Doug Collins, head coach of the Chicago Bulls between 1986-89 were the integral characters of Episode 3. If one half of the story was all about Rodman's on-court exploits and off it, Collins had his share of reliving his memories with the Bulls. Collins gets his fair share of the spotlight as the head coach of the Bulls before the arrival of Phil Jackson and he vividly remembers Jordan's words ahead of his first game as coach against the New York Knicks— "I'm not gonna let you lose your first game".
The other one can be added to the list of the talking points of the episode. Collins recounts a time when he saw Jordan being upset with him for cheating with his points during practice and leaving the practice session. People were asking the coach if he had spoken to Michael since practice. Collins addresses it saying he hadn't and then Jordan was seen stepping out soon after which Collins added, "I reached over, grabbed him and kissed him on the cheek." He also added, "I said, 'I love him, he loves me.'"
The episode also highlighted the mutual respect Collins and Jordan had for each other. When talking about the exploits of Michael Jordan, he said, "I coached him for three years. From the ’86-’87 season through ’88-’89. When I was coaching him, he was the MVP of the league, he was the MVP of the All-Star game, he won the slam dunk competition and he was the Defensive Player of the Year. That’s greatness."
Doug Collins was fired in the summer of '89 after the Bulls reached the Eastern Conference Finals just once during his tenure and lost to the Detroit Pistons in that series.
While it was Phil Jackson who was with the team as they reached the pinnacle of success in the early '90s, it is safe to say that Collins had the best seat in the house as he saw a legend called Jordan in the making.
'The Last Dance' airs Sundays 9 pm ET on ESPN. Episodes 3 and 4 are available for streaming on Netflix.