'The Last Dance' Episode 8: Michael Jordan's emotional celebration of '96 finals win leaves fans in tears
Spoilers for 'The Last Dance' Episode 8
The NBA 1996 Championship vs the Seattle Supersonics had a great emotional impact on Michael Jordan. His first title without his father, James Jordan, by his side saw the legend break down after the win. The archival footage saw Jordan lying on the floor in the locker room with the ball to his face and sobbing. The emotions were raw, the emotions were real and fans on Twitter relived the memory of that epic win.
"That moment of MJ on the floor crying was really hard to watch#TheLastDance," a fan wrote. "I cried then and I'm crying now. All these years later. I felt that shit. Rip James Jordan," another tweeted. "James was watching MJ winning another title from above with a huge smile on his face," a fan said. "Heartbreaking stuff," read one of the tweets.
Adding to the occasion was Father's Day. The finale played in June '96 saw some major buildup in the form of Gary Payton vs Jordan rivalry. Payton was one of the main men defending Jordan and it all boiled down to how he could keep Jordan quiet. Except, he couldn't as Jordan ka-blamed 22 points and had 7 assists to his name. "The Bulls took their foot off the gas to win it all at home on Father's Day," a fan tweeted. "Wow. Great episode 8. That final scene with Michael sobbing in the locker room was like an arc for this series like a GoT episode 8," one of the fans opined.
"Tonight was the first time I heard the sound of him crying. Just the picture. Wow!!" a fan exclaimed. "This scene really got me a little choked up on behalf of Jordan and I'm not the one who won it. Powerful stuff here. #thelastdance," another remarked. One fan relived the moment he had watched the game live: "I remember this day. To make it tougher, they won this Championship on Father's Day." To sum up, here's one that defines Jordan: "That moment made him human. That's tough to let out with all those cameras watching. Respect that man for showing his emotions"
'The Last Dance' airs Sundays 9 pm ET on ESPN.