'The Last Dance' Episode 3 Review: Rockstar Rodman takes the spotlight as the opposition's 'f**k-up' person
Spoilers for 'The Last Dance' Episode 3
My earliest memory of Dennis Rodman was that he was a beast. Tall, muscled pecs, powerful delts with abs that rippled beneath his jersey, steely eyes, and that "bad boy" attitude. This man came right from Detroit Pistons to link up with the Bulls and soon after what followed was a three-prong attack that comprised of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Rodman. If Pippen was the cynosure of all eyes in Episode 2, the third shed ample light on Dennis Rodman. And some of it on Doug Collins, the Bulls head coach between 1986-89.
The best summation of Rodman's play was that he was the "f**k-up" person. Any forward leaps up to shoot, Rodman would switch that deadly defense on and prevent that dunk from happening. It didn't matter to him how he did it, but he did. And for all the flamboyance, the earrings, the showman attitude, Rodman was a rockstar who was always there for the Bulls, in short, a team man who for some reason failed to accept he was one.
Perhaps he thought of himself as a lone gun-slinger, and why not? This man lived a hard life. Maybe it had something to do that he lived on the streets pretty early. Soon after, an opportunity arose with South Eastern Oklahoma University and then a stint with the Detroit Pistons. Rodman was part of a Pistons team that was the epitome of "tough". They played rough, they played hard and they were notoriously dubbed as the "Bad Boys" of basketball.
Phil Jackson recounts his first meeting with Rodman. "It was awful," he says on tape as he describes Rodman in that avatar that finding a name is hard for. But in the words of Pippen, Rodman fit like a perfect glove when he made it to the Bulls. And the massive impact was felt when he shook the court with his fierce defensive and rebounding skills, earning him the name, "The Worm".
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". Collins dubbed Jordan as the 'big moment' player.
Collins's time also saw Jordan go up against Rodman when the Bulls faced the Pistons. It was practically a thumping the Bulls received and it wasn't just physical. They were outmatched by the brute force Pistons brought in. And back then they were the team to beat.
After recording wins in 59 games and a third straight division title, the Pistons sailed through the first two rounds of the playoffs before playing a tough Eastern Conference Finals series against Jordan, Pippen, and the Chicago Bulls. Facing each other for the third straight season, both teams split the first six games before the Pistons finished the series with a decisive 93–74 victory in Game 7.
Collins mantra for winning games meant Jordan being the end recipient to the ball with the instruction being clear: "Give the ball to Michael and get the f**k out of the way!" There is more than mutual respect Jordan and Collins have for each other, and that is a major highlight in the episode.
Rodman, in the meantime, was shown to be instrumental to help Jordan and Co. win games in Pippen's absence. It meant seeing a new side of the Bulls— The Jordman. Much like the opening episodes, ESPN's 'The Last Dance' does justice to giving the audience access to some rare footage. One that also sees Rodman taking a 48-hour vacation to Las Vegas to blow off some steam and Jordan's lines are amusing at best.
"So he [Jackson] looks at Dennis and says, ‘Dennis, can your vacation be like 48 hours?’ And Dennis is like, ‘I’ve got no other choice, I’ll take whatever you can give me, I’ll take the 48 hours.’ ‘48 hours. You’ve got 48 hours, Dennis.’ And I’m looking at Phil like, ‘You ain’t gonna get that dude back in 48 hours. I don’t care what you say, he’s done. Mmkay. 48 hours.’ He leaves that room, goes straight to the airport, boom. We don’t hear or see Dennis for 48 hours.”
The episode closes out with Rodman partying in Vegas and then making his way back well past the 48-hour deadline. But if Jackson and Jordan were right, the man deserved it wholly.
'The Last Dance' airs 9 pm ET on ESPN.