Ken Burns says Michael Jordan’s ‘The Last Dance’ isn’t good journalism or good history
“The Last Dance” of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls has been a big hit for ESPN. (Beth A. Keiser/AP)
By
Cindy Boren
April 30, 2020 at 12:43 p.m. EDT
Michael Jordan promised that “The Last Dance” would be a warts-and-all documentary, with nothing off limits.
But one of the most popular documentarians in America pointed out that a big problem with the 10-part ESPN series is that, while it may be entertaining as all get-out to watch a man whose greatest NBA glory came more than 20 years ago, it’s something of a vanity project that was made in partnership with Jump 23, Jordan’s production company. That means that Jordan was, to a degree, in control.
“I find it the opposite direction of where we need to be going. If you are there influencing the very fact of it getting made it means that certain aspects that you don’t necessarily want in aren’t going to be in, period,” Burns told the Wall Street Journal. “And that’s not the way you do good journalism ... and it’s certainly not the way you do good history, my business.”
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Burns added that he had not seen the first four parts that have aired, though many people certainly have been watching. The documentary, which provides an inside look at Jordan’s last season with the Chicago Bulls as they completed their second NBA championship three-peat, has averaged nearly 6 million viewers over its first four episodes, shown the past two Sunday nights.
Burns has produced enormously popular documentaries on baseball, the Civil War, the history of country music, the Vietnam War and the Roosevelts. “The Last Dance” was done differently than a Burns program, with executive producer Mike Tollin saying Jordan had seen all 10 episodes. That is an arrangement that Burns said he would “never, never, never, never” agree to.
But “The Last Dance” is part authorized biography as well as chronicle of a season. It has felt, over the first four episodes, disjointed at times as it seeks to place the final championship season in historical context as well as to chronicle the life of a transformative athlete. After all, there would not be one without the other, and if, along the way, it puts an end to the debate over whether Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest of all time, well, that may be a product of Jordan’s involvement in the production, too.
It’s part of a trend in sports in which players, teams and owners often seek to bend the narrative, whether through sites such as the Players’ Tribune or productions from their media companies, such as Tom Brady’s “Tom vs. Time” series. Tollin stressed the importance of credibility with “The Last Dance” but noted that “this isn’t investigative journalism. [Director] Jason [Hehir is] a filmmaker, and like his, my orientation is to tell great stories.”
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Burns seeks to tell stories, too, but through an objective point of view. “The Last Dance” is comprehensive and certainly compelling, with Estee Portnoy, Jordan’s business manager, telling The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver that “nothing was off limits.” But it remains a Jump 23 co-production even as it tells of Jordan’s cutthroat approach to competition and leadership and touches on subjects such as his tyrannical tendencies, his gambling, his apolitical public stance and his father’s death.
It’s the Bulls’ story, and it’s Jordan’s, too, but wouldn’t you like to see Ken Burns’s version of it?
“The Last Dance” of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls has been a big hit for ESPN. (Beth A. Keiser/AP)
By
Cindy Boren
April 30, 2020 at 12:43 p.m. EDT
Michael Jordan promised that “The Last Dance” would be a warts-and-all documentary, with nothing off limits.
But one of the most popular documentarians in America pointed out that a big problem with the 10-part ESPN series is that, while it may be entertaining as all get-out to watch a man whose greatest NBA glory came more than 20 years ago, it’s something of a vanity project that was made in partnership with Jump 23, Jordan’s production company. That means that Jordan was, to a degree, in control.
“I find it the opposite direction of where we need to be going. If you are there influencing the very fact of it getting made it means that certain aspects that you don’t necessarily want in aren’t going to be in, period,” Burns told the Wall Street Journal. “And that’s not the way you do good journalism ... and it’s certainly not the way you do good history, my business.”
AD
Burns added that he had not seen the first four parts that have aired, though many people certainly have been watching. The documentary, which provides an inside look at Jordan’s last season with the Chicago Bulls as they completed their second NBA championship three-peat, has averaged nearly 6 million viewers over its first four episodes, shown the past two Sunday nights.
Burns has produced enormously popular documentaries on baseball, the Civil War, the history of country music, the Vietnam War and the Roosevelts. “The Last Dance” was done differently than a Burns program, with executive producer Mike Tollin saying Jordan had seen all 10 episodes. That is an arrangement that Burns said he would “never, never, never, never” agree to.
But “The Last Dance” is part authorized biography as well as chronicle of a season. It has felt, over the first four episodes, disjointed at times as it seeks to place the final championship season in historical context as well as to chronicle the life of a transformative athlete. After all, there would not be one without the other, and if, along the way, it puts an end to the debate over whether Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest of all time, well, that may be a product of Jordan’s involvement in the production, too.
It’s part of a trend in sports in which players, teams and owners often seek to bend the narrative, whether through sites such as the Players’ Tribune or productions from their media companies, such as Tom Brady’s “Tom vs. Time” series. Tollin stressed the importance of credibility with “The Last Dance” but noted that “this isn’t investigative journalism. [Director] Jason [Hehir is] a filmmaker, and like his, my orientation is to tell great stories.”
Sign up for our weekly NBA newsletter to get the best basketball coverage in your inbox
Burns seeks to tell stories, too, but through an objective point of view. “The Last Dance” is comprehensive and certainly compelling, with Estee Portnoy, Jordan’s business manager, telling The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver that “nothing was off limits.” But it remains a Jump 23 co-production even as it tells of Jordan’s cutthroat approach to competition and leadership and touches on subjects such as his tyrannical tendencies, his gambling, his apolitical public stance and his father’s death.
It’s the Bulls’ story, and it’s Jordan’s, too, but wouldn’t you like to see Ken Burns’s version of it?
Enjoy it while it lasts, hes not getting any younger.
