Sports fans have been treated to some truly exceptional documentaries of the years, and ESPN’s The Last Dance only added to that growing list. Director Jason Hehir and his colleagues managed to capture the essence the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and remind fans why ‘90s NBA basketball was so much fun to watch. Given how well done The Last Dance is, it would be nice to see other sports dynasties get a 10-part docuseries of its own. And Hehir just happens to have thoughts on the teams that would make great subjects:
There’s an ’86 Mets doc that’s in production that I can’t wait to see, because that’s a team that’s another indelible team from my youth. I think that there’s a lot to be mined from the ’90s Cowboys teams with Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders and Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones and Barry Switzer. There’s a ton of characters on those teams. There’s very few indelible to their era dynasties that are loaded with characters the way that this Bulls team was. There are some.
The choices that Jason Hehir gave to Collider are definitely solid, especially the Dallas Cowboys of the ‘90s. Not only was the team a dominant force within the sports world during that time, but they also had some pretty unique personalities. Based on its time period and the similar energy of its personalities, such a documentary would be somewhat of a spiritual successor to The Last Dance.
Additionally, Hehir also mentioned a dynasty that’s a little more recent, and it’s one that many sports fans would probably love to see:
You could maybe look at Tom Brady’s Patriots, but they were so consistent in the way that Belichick and Brady’s personalities imbued that team. You had Deflategate and a few other controversial moments, but they didn’t have the rollercoaster that these other teams had, and some of the backstories, we’ll probably never know because they weren’t allowed to speak as much as we’re used to other teams speaking. But you have to start with the greatness first. There’s plenty of teams that have plenty of great characters, but how many teams dominated for that long? There’s not many.
Although there isn’t a New England Patriots-centered docuseries on the way, ESPN is currently developing a 9-part docuseries centered on Tom Brady. The series, Man In The Arena, is set to debut on the network sometime in 2021.
The release of this new series is definitely proof that ESPN wants to continue to build on the success of documentaries following the release of The Last Dance. It’s safe to say that the series has helped to set a new standard for the modern sports documentary, which could mean big things for productions moving forward. It’ll be fun to see what other sports teams get the Last Dance treatment moving forward.
The Last Dance is currently available to stream on Netflix.
