There’s a lot to love about The Last Dance, but some of the most entertaining elements of the critically acclaimed docuseries have to be the personal stories from the various interviewees. From team practices and championship celebrations to Michael Jordan’s golf outings and pre-game wagers with the security staff, there was no shortage of delightful anecdotes. There’s one story that likely sticks out the most in both basketball fans and casual viewers’ minds and, unfortunately for Blake Griffin, it was his favorite go-to story when describing his run-ins with Jordan.
Detroit Pistons star Blake Griffin, a Jordan brand athlete, has known the iconic Chicago Bull for some time now. As a result, he’s been privy to some personal stories from Jordan’s time as a player, which Griffin would then tell his friends. However, Michael Jordan would discuss Griffin’s favorite story in depth on The Last Dance, and it’s one that involves one of the Bulls’ most eccentric players:
I’ve been a Jordan athlete for almost eight years now, and I’ve gotten to spend some time around him. And whenever tells stories, you’re always really locked in. He’s a great storyteller, and he told us the story about Dennis Rodman ‘needing a vacation’ in the middle of the season and going to Vegas. And for so long, that was like my go-to. People would be like, ‘What’s Jordan like?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, I got something cool. Here’s this story.’ And I would just give them this Dennis Rodman story. And then as he started to tell this story during The Last Dance, I was just like, ‘[sigh].’ I don’t have that cool story, like my go-to story where everything was keyed up, so now I gotta think of something else.
Dennis Rodman’s midseason “vacation” in Las Vegas was definitely a highlight of The Last Dance, which just scored a well-deserved Emmy win for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Watching Jordan reminisce on the situation was almost as funny as the seemingly ageless Carmen Electra recalling her attempts to hide when Jordan came looking for Rodman in Vegas. With this, one can understand why Blake Griffin was a bit bummed when discussing the now-widely-known story on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Griffin’s response is one of the many interesting reactions to The Last Dance, as some of the players that appeared in the doc have since given their thoughts on it. For instance, Scottie Pippen seemed to mostly enjoy the series, which was contrary to previous reports that he was “livid” about the way he was depicted.
One person who did take issue with their depiction was former Chicago Bull Horace Grant. During The Last Dance, Jordan claimed that Grant leaked locker room information to journalist friend Sam Smith, which allegedly allowed him to write The Jordan Rules. Grant refuted the claims and asserted his belief that Jordan is only holding “a grudge.”
Aside from Grant, reception to The Last Dance has been relatively positive, though it looks like Blake Griffin will have to find a new story to tell. But that shouldn’t be too hard given that he’s probably heard more than one Michael Jordan story in his time.
The Last Dance is currently streaming on both Netflix and ESPN+.
