I first read about Jordan and Pippen in a storybook when I was very young. The story goes that when Pippen first came to the Bulls, Jordan didn't take Jordan seriously, and he often said he was better than Jordan. And Jordan didn't care when he heard this, and even encouraged Pippen to keep improving. Finally, in a game, Pippen's final score surpassed Jordan, and the two hugged tightly in excitement.
Since then, Jordan has always impressed me as a humble and friendly "god of basketball", forgive me for not knowing much about basketball other than hearsay. After watching The Last Dance, I realized that the Jordan in the documentary was not the same as the Jordan I once read about. In the film, Jordan is competitive and strict. Even interviews with other players say that Jordan is not an "encouraging" but a "pressing" teammate.
It is understandable that Jordan is a GOAT, but what is the real Jordan, this is not the answer that the documentary can tell us. "The Last Dance" is essentially a Jordan documentary, not an objective Bulls documentary. Neither the accusations against Jerry Krause nor the vague statements about management's decision to disband are entirely objective. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the film, on the contrary, I'm thrilled to immerse myself in the era and the games that the film describes, while retaining reasonable doubts.
Maybe I'm being too critical, even a documentary doesn't give us the full picture, but we get to see the parts we want to see the most in a documentary. For me, for example, my favorite is Jordan's dramatic basketball spirit. From my personal experience of playing basketball and csgo, I am not a player who can play well at key match points. I can't help but question myself, my style of play will be deformed, my heart will tremble, and the ending is often a helpless sigh after losing the game. So watching Jordan (and other NBA players) play like a savior in the final seconds of the game, I can imagine how much pressure and self-doubt I would have endured, and I would imagine they were going through it before history was made. What an inner struggle. For another example, I really like the movie-like revenge and self-proof that this film is about. I love watching Jordan take his own source of strength from his setbacks and ultimately prove himself time and time again. It may seem cliché, but I always feel that this passion and fulfillment of other people's expectations is lacking in my own life, so that's what I like to watch in documentaries too.
When I write about Jordan, I can't help but think of Kobe. Before I know it, he has left for more than half a year. After his death, I watched his "Muse" documentary on station b, and now I compare it with Jordan and realize how similar the two are. We need guys like Jordan and Kobe, not because they're great in one way, but because they're pure. I think that while Kobe and Jordan are the greatest, it doesn't mean that other players are inferior to them. Our lives are limited, and we allocate limited time and energy to our careers, families, and fun. NBA players themselves are just a profession, and they have various other identities to take into account besides playing. Everyone has a choice. But the greatness of Kobe and Jordan is that they chose to put all of themselves into basketball, so that they are no longer just a player, but almost become basketball itself.
It is difficult for us to be such a person, and if it is not for a great love, we do not need to be such a person. But Jordan and Kobe themselves are destined to become the memory of an era, because they let us know that although life is short and full of shit, we can go a long way.
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