ESPN’s latest documentary The Last Dance, featuring the greatest basketball icon of all time, Michael Jordan, airs tonight.
The Last Dance is a 10-part docuseries capturing never-before-seen footage following the Chicago Bulls during the 1997-98 NBA season. The documentary premiers on April 19, Sunday night, with the first episode airing at 9PM ET, immediately followed by Episode 2 at 10PM.
The Last Dance will be shown by ESPN each Sunday night, with two episodes airing back-to-back starting 9PM:
The Last Dance on ESPN schedule:
- Sunday, April 19 Episodes 1 and 2 (9PM ET);
- Sunday, April 26 Episodes 3 and 4;
- Sunday, May 3 Episodes 5 and 6;
- Sunday, May 10 Episodes 7 and 8;
- Sunday, May 17: the final two episodes: 9 and 10.
How to watch The Last Dance on ESPN:
The Last Dance will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN.com, ESPN app, and will also be available on the ESPN Plus app.
ESPN Plus will also stream “Detail: 1998 Chicago Bulls,� a companion series hosted by Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and head coach Phil Jackson, with five episodes streaming each Sunday, ahead of The Last Dance.
You can sign up for ESPN Plus through the ESPN app or directly from ESPN.com.
The ESPN Plus service is also bundled with Disney Plus and Hulu (with ads) for $13 a month.
The Last Dance: 1997-98 Jordan and the Bulls dynasty on show
Michael Jeffrey Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six titles. Both times, he won three series back-to-back with the Chicago Bulls, under legendary coach Phil Jackson, with a supporting cast including Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, and future Hall of Famer Steve Kerr.
The Last Dance givers viewers unprecedented access to the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, the last great Chicago Bulls team, the last team with Michael Jordan, who announced his second retirement after the NBA Finals. The footage claims to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before: 500 hours of tape was captured on super 16mm, allowing mastering in full HD resolution shots.
The 1997-98 season saw the Bulls and Jordan win everything, again. The Bulls won 62 games in the regular season, Jordan was MVP of the league, the Bulls won their third straight championship, and clinched their sixth in the last eight years. The Bulls were bigger than The Beatles, and Jordan was bigger than the sport itself.
Shea Serrano’s 2017 book Basketball (And Other Things) describes Jordan’s 1997-98 season as ‘The Very Very Great Michael Jordan’, noting “1998 Jordan is not the most statistically dominant [in his career span], but he is the one that is the most theatrical.”
With the world on lockdown, ESPN rushed The Last Dance docuseries to premier on April 19, months ahead of its expected showing. Expect it to see huge attention given the status of Michael Jordan, the popularity of the NBA and basketball, and the world wanting to see new content.
The Last Dance outside of the US: Netflix
Netflix has the rights to The Last Dance outside of the US, with episodes premiering each week, in line with ESPN with a slight delay. Each week, episodes will be available to stream at 12:01am PT on Monday mornings, following the Sunday night premiere. That means different times across the world, for example, The Last Dance will be available at 8.01AM on Monday in the UK, 5.01PM in Sydney, Australia, and so on around the world.
The Last Dance on Netflix schedule:
- Monday, April 20 — The Last Dance Episodes 1 and 2 — 12:01 am PT / 3.01AM ET / 9.01AM CET (Berlin) / 8.01AM BST (London), 12.01pm IST, 5.01PM AEDT (Sydney).
- Monday, April 27 — Episodes 3 and 4;
- Monday, May 4 — Episodes 5 and 6;
- Monday, May 11 — Episodes 7 and 8;
- Monday, May 18 — Episodes 9 and 10.
Note: ESPN Plus is only available in the US, limiting wider release of the companion series: Detail: 1998 Chicago Bulls.