Limpag: Memories of ‘98

SEEING the first two episodes of “The Last Dance” brought back a lot of memories of that time. I was such a huge Chicago Bulls fan that when a book about its 72-10 season was published, I bought it. I already had a side hustle as a correspondent for the The Freeman but I spent most of the time in the Science Library in the University of San Carlos - College of Engineering, browsing the papers for anything Bulls-related.

It wasn’t only me who was hooked on the Bulls, it seemed every adult male, and quite a few females, in Cebu were following the team. I remember during that 1997 NBA finals, the mayor had to issue a memo barring employees from skipping work to watch the games live. I don’t recall reading anything like that in the post-Jordan Finals and of course, in the past years or so, you really don’t need to leave your workstation to catch the Finals.

I’ve forgotten how shambolic the start of the season was and how everything was about Jerry Krause, the most hated man in sports at that time. Who in his right mind would think of breaking up the best team of all time? Then there was Scottie Pippen, two years removed from his playoff meltdown against the New York Knicks in the first Jordan retirement, opting to have his surgery at the start of the season. Every fan knew how underpaid Pippen was at that time, but not everybody knew the reason why.

I learned of it a few years later when I read from a book how Scottie, who grew up poor, wanted securiy and was worried that an injury would cut his career off. That was why he opted for a seven-year contract in 1990 worth $18M. It’s good to know that at least the Bulls owner, Jerry Reindsof, advised him against signing such contract. Krause has always been pictured out as a villain in the story and that line of his, about how organizations, not players, win championships hogged the headlines for months. Well, at least he got to explain the rationale behind that, how he got misquoted.

I wasn’t surprised about that bombshell about how the Jordan’s teammates in his first season were on drugs as it was mentioned in another controversial book, “The Jordan Rules,” but I was surprised when he said that almost everyone on the team was on it. Man, I wonder if the members of that team, who weren’t shown in the first two episodes, will have subsequent appearances in the next episodes.

Overall, the first two episodes are great. It shows a different kind of NBA culture, one that this generation’s players can’t relate to since they grew up idolizing the guys who grew up idolizing Jordan. I wonder what the next few episodes will hold and I hope there’s one about the Kobe vs. MJ special.

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