“The Last Dance” is a documentary about Michael Jordan that aired on ESPN. As an athlete or individual, you can learn a lot of lessons from these episodes. Keep reading to find out 23 lessons that these episodes have taught thousands of people.
1. The Conversation About “who’s The Goat?” Is Over
Lesson No. 1 is that Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time. If you don’t think this, then there is definitely something wrong with you. You are either delusional, a troll, a teenager, your team lost to him or you simply haven’t watched “The Last Dance.”
The argument for who is the GOAT is over, since Michael Jordan is the GOAT, and there is no point in discussing it anymore.
2. The Future Looks Bright For The Nba
Even though Michael is the GOAT, that is not going to last for a long time. Since millions of kids have watched “The Last Dance” and learned a lot from these episodes, many are definitely going to become great players one day.
Michael hadn’t watched “The Last Dance,” but these thousands of kids got the chance to watch it and learn from it.
3. Only A Lion Speaks The Language Of Another Lion
When a lion speaks, we cannot understand it. This is what happened with Michael. We never understood what Michael meant through his actions. Everyone kept on criticizing him, stating that he is a bully, asking, “Did you see what he did to everyone?” He never bullied anyone to belittle them. Instead, he bullied them to bring the best version out of those people.
Mike believed that if they managed to handle him, then they can handle anybody. Michael is a lion and if you don’t understand him, then you are not a lion. It is as simple as that.
4. Every Team Needs An “effective A**hole”
Every great organization has an a**hole in it, and on this team, it was Jerry Krause. Scottie Pippen, the person who bullied him, also said you must follow him.
He said that Jerry was the greatest player of all time, the greatest coach of all time, and the greatest general manager of all time as he was the one who brought so many great players.
5. Constantly Add New Names To Your “fu## You” List
Michael Jordan always had a long “Fu## You” list, and he made sure to keep adding more names to it constantly as this list drove him to greatness. So, make sure to make your own list and let it drive you toward greatness.
6. Don’t Chase Money Too Early
Michael wasn’t the highest-paid player in the NBA until late in his tenure with the Bulls. He never chased money. He chased greatness. Everything came to him — movies, ads, endorsements, movie opportunities — because he chased greatness.
If you chase greatness, everything else will automatically come to you. He chased greatness more than he chased money. However, if you chase money and over-negotiate your value in the marketplace, nothing will work for you.
7. Capitalism Works
When Michael first came into the league and was getting shoe deals, Converse was in the No. 1 position. They had everything. When MJ’s team went to Converse, they said that they couldn’t make Michael the face of their shoe brand.
Michael liked Adidas, but Adidas didn’t have the money to write him a quarter-million-dollar check. His team then went to Nike, but MJ wasn’t a Nike fan. The company was in the third position at that time, but when they made Michael the face of their brand, both Michael and Nike achieved success.
8. How To Get The Most Out Of Your People
Leadership matters. You need to know how to get the best out of your players. Jerry Krause realized that they were going to win the championship with the help of one person. This is when Jerry brought in Phil Jackson as an assistant and gave him more authority than Doug Collins, who was the coach at that time.
Jerry realized that Doug couldn’t bring out the best in the players. It was Phil who could do that.
9. Love Affair With The Media
If you want to be the best of all time, then you need to give attention to the media since the media loves getting attention. The media will come after you whether you like it or not.
You can either come face to face with the media, or you can develop a relationship with them. Michael chose to do the latter.
He built a relationship with the media. He loved the media, and the media loved him.
10. The Vampire Syndrome
There were always stories about Michael doing so many things. He was always in the headlines for doing one thing after another. When did he even sleep? He had a laser focus and never needed as much sleep as normal people do.
To be Michael and do all the things that he was doing, he must have the vampire syndrome; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to survive at all.
11. You’re Always One Great Player Away From Leveling Up
You only need one person who is going to help change the life of your business. One new person, one new employee, one new player is what you need to upgrade your business. Michael was that one new player who helped his team at leveling up.
Before he had come to Chicago, only 4,000 people would come to the stadium to watch the games, but after him the whole stadium would sell out. Find out that one person, and your business will go up.
12. It Isn’t The Shoes
It’s not the shoes, it’s the player. There is a commercial that Michael did for Spike Lee, where Spike Lee said that it’s got to be the shoes, but that is not the case. It is from Michael. No one would have paid him the amount of money they were paying him if it wasn’t for his hard work.
13. Learning How To Trust Is Tough
In order for an empire or organization to flourish, trust is essential. One has to trust their coach. Mike trusted Phil. At the start, he didn’t trust the other players, but he learned to trust them due to different reasons. This trust is what let them win six championships.
14. Sometimes The Best Recruiter Is Not Who Think It Might Be
Bringing someone back to a team after they have left, retired or had a falling out is not easy. It isn’t done by someone who is in the top three positions; instead, it is done by somebody who had a good relationship with that person.
In this situation, it was BJ Armstrong who brought back Michael since they always had a good relationship. So, when Michael was in Chicago, and BJ asked him to play, Michael trusted BJ to do so. BJ encouraged Michael to play, so it was him who indirectly recruited Michael.
15. Being Great At One Thing Doesn’t Guarantee Greatness In Other Things You Do
When you are at the highest point in your career, everyone is going to tell you how amazing you are, and it is going to lead you to believe that you are going to be amazing at everything you do.
However, this is not true at all. One must know his limits and do what you are great at doing. You can’t be great at everything.
16. Hate To Be Compared
Michael hated to be compared to anybody. He was at that level in his career where guys hate to be compared to anybody.
So, whenever he was compared to somebody else, he would constantly ask everyone to not compare him to them, and then went on to prove it through his performance that he is one of a kind and shouldn’t be compared to anyone else. If you don’t like to be compared, then say it and prove it to everyone.
17. Hating Your Opponent And Respecting Them Are Two Different Things
Hating another player is different than respecting that person. If you don’t like an opponent, that doesn’t mean that you can’t respect him.
Michael didn’t like Isaiah Thomas as a person, but he still said that he thinks that he is the second-greatest point guard, which is him respecting Isaiah regardless of hating him.
18. There Are Levels To Being An Alpha
When you are beating people nationally, that is when it gets more competitive. A lot of players can become great trash talkers, but nobody compares to Michael when it comes to being an alpha.
There is a misconception that being an alpha is about personality. Instead, it is about results in the field, and Michael proved through his performance and results that he is the greatest alpha of all time. If you are an alpha, you can beat all other alphas.
19. Don’t Apologize For Challenging Other People
One must never be apologetic for challenging others in the field; they should not feel bad for being too hard on the other players. Don’t apologize for driving people to become the best of who they are. Michael was driving everybody, and he wasn’t apologetic about it at all.
20. Show Up Even If You Don’t Feel Like It
There are going to be times when you won’t feel like showing up. However, you will still have to show up and win that game. Michael was sick a night before a game, but he still showed up and made 38 points in 44 minutes, leading his team to a win, even when he didn’t feel like playing.
21. Quitting On Your Team Leaves A Permanent Scar
Sometimes when you quit, some things are never going to leave you. Sometimes when everything is going against you, and you feel like quitting, you shouldn’t do it publically. Instead, you should talk to your coach in private; otherwise, you are going to regret your decision in the future as it will leave a permanent mark on your reputation.
22. Be A Great Flag Carrier And Protect Your Coach
Flag carrier mentality means to fight for your coach, and that is what Michael did for Phil. Michael defended Phil to the very end. Michael once said that if you find a Phil in your life, make sure to protect them, maintain them and don’t let anybody say anything against that person.
23. The Great Ones Never Have A Full Stomach Even After Experiencing It All
Unlike others, Michael wasn’t happy the way his career ended regardless of being at the top. He was in mid-50s but he still wants to go back at it again. He still wants to go play basketball again, and this is what makes him different from others.
