Original subtitles

J“ ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-00h... j“

Michael Jordan has said it many times.

He considers Madison square garden to be the mecca of basketball.

J“ 00/7, 00/7, 00/7 life j“

hf in fact, this is his final NBA all-star game,

it's a perfect place to make a last statement.

J“ /0'0/7'f/(/70wi'

On the verge of a repeat three-peat,

Michael Jordan is playing his last year

bulls g/I/I Jerry k rause swore on I/I/ednesda y

that Phil Jackson would not return next year

and said if ll/lichae/ chooses to Lea ve

because there is another coach, then it's his choice.

- Boy, hey! - What's up, man?

Hey, your feet look good.

Kobe Bryant meanwhile, the youngesta/i-star in history,

at 79 years, five months.

I've been talking to him.

It's the same thing. He's a 79— year-old kid.

You know what they said,

”Kobe, get ready to be the man at the all-star game.

You can't forget the king is still on the court. ”

J“ if / ruled the world j“

j“ imagine that j“

Andy, Michael's going right here?

Yes. Right there.

J“ if you could be mine I/I/e 'd both shine j“

j“ if / ruled the world j“

j“ still living for today j“

j“ in these last days... j“

Shots out there.

If you get in the middle, you don't have anything,

kick it out, make that extra pass.

Somebody should be wide open for a three, okay?

While we're here, we might as well win.

That's right.

I know, right?

Uh-huh.

He's gonna take people, make his game.

Yeah.

- What? - Shit!

What's happening? How you been doing, man?

Damn!

- Hey, Michael? - I'm loving it though.

Would you like to have some of his ass today?

Just about t/p-off time at Madison square garden

for the 48th NBA all-star game.

And there you see Kobe Bryant in the foreground,

the man many ha ve dubbed the next Michael Jordan.

I got Mike. I got Mike.

- Here is Michael -Aah!

Count it, plus the foul for Jordan!

I grew up watching Michael on TV,

and now you got a chance to go face-to-face with him.

You get a chance to really see and, like, touch and feel

strength, speed, quickness.

And, um...

It was fun to be out there.

He's got the ball in his hands again.

7'o garnett. Back to k obe/

Oh!

Yeah.

We got to get back.

Hey, hey.

It was a rough couple years for me coming into the league.

At the time, the league was so much older. It's not as young as it is today,

so nobody was really thinking much of me.

I was a kid that shot a bunch of air balls. You know what I mean?

And at that point, Michael provided a lot of guidance for me.

Like, I had a question about shooting this turnaround shot,

so I asked him about it,

and, you know, he gave me a great, detailed answer.

But on top of that, he said,

"if you ever need anything, give me a call."

He's like my big brother.

You know, I truly hate having discussions

about who would win one-on-one, and your fans saying,

"hey, Kobe, you'd beat Michael one-on-one."

I feel like, "yo,

what you get from me is from him.

I don't get five championships here without him,

'cause he guided me so much and gave me so much great advice."

Kobe had challenged Michael.

Michael comes out and he's saying, ”not ton/ght, young fella.

Uh-uh, Kobe. I got some more tricks left in my bag. ”

He's not ready to leave yet, folks.

Greatjob, guys.

Way to go, boy.

You know it. You know it.

- Cool. - Congratulations, Mike.

Ah! Ain't that something?

- Big daddy! - All right. See ya.

I'm only going to allow him to have his trophy

if he promises to come back and do it again.

The all-star of all-stars,

the mvp, Michael Jordan.

If there was ever any doubt that he could've kept playing

at an mvp and championship level,

here's the all-star game. He's the mvp.

He's still the star among stars.

Even though there were explanations offered,

people couldn't understand why he was going to step away.

The public wanted him to keep going.

A spectacular move/

Oh/ the game's over/

Chicago stadium is going wild

First of all, there's no backstabbing going on here.

It is time for me to move on.

This will be Phil's last year as the coach of the bulls.

Are the expectations way too h/gh .7

Where do we go from here?

The only question: How long can it last?

Knowing this is the last dance,

unless something actually changes,

going into Madison square garden,

this is the last time I'm going to be playing here,

and that was my favorite place to play.

Went back and grabbed the old pair of Jordan 1s.

It's the first shoe I wore in the garden,

so this is going to be the last shoe,

being that this was gonna be the last time I play in the garden.

-J“ gan / kick it?!“ -J“ yes, you can j“

-j“ gan / kick it?!“ -J“ yes, you can j“

-j“ gan / kick it?!“ -J“ yes, you can j“

j“ well, I'm gone j“

j“ go on then j“

j“ can lkick it? J“

j“ to my tribe that flows in layers j“

Come on, man. Toni, you were nowhere around.

You was a baby when I broke these out.

'84. How old were you?

You were 12 years old.

Tony was still in diapers.

I first met Michael Jordan in 1984.

I actually went to north Carolina

to interview Michael and his family to represent him.

His parents asked great questions.

They were very intelligent, extremely personable.

Ourfirm, proserv, had a lot of very high-profile tennis clients,

like Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith,

and Arthur ashe.

Arthur ashe had his own shoes.

He had his own tennis racket.

This is the racket I won wimbledon with,

and you could have bought it. Really.

The strategy was to try to take a team-sport player,

and treat him more like a golfer

or a boxer or a tennis player.

I said to David, "what are you trying to do?

You're trying to turn this guy into a tennis player?

He's a basketball player. He's not a tennis player."

I said, "that's exactly what I'm trying to do."

And the very first deal was shoes.

We took him out to meet converse,

which, at that time, was the official shoe of the NBA.

J“ the con verse I/I/eapon that's the shoe j“

j“ lets magic do what he was born to do j“

They have magic Johnson, Dr. J, Bernard king, Larry bird.

J“ you already know what they did for me j“

J“ / walked away with the mvp j“

7'he converse I/I/eapon. The number-one weapon in the NBA.

Converse had big players,

and told me, "we cannot envision you being put ahead of them."

Okay. Fine.

I was Adidas.

I like the Lakers and I like marques Johnson.

And I like Adidas. I like the Adidas shoe, you know?

Adidas was really dysfunctional by that time,

and they had just told me,

"we'd love to have Jordan. We just can't make a shoe work at this point in time."

I wanted Michael to go with Nike because they were the upstart.

In the early '80s, Nike was, for the most part,

a track-shoe company.

Michael didn't even want to be at Nike.

I couldn't even get him to get on the damn plane

and go visit the campus,

so I called his parents.

And my mother said, "you're going to go listen.

You may not like it, but you're going to go listen."

"Mom, I don't want to hear it. I know what I want to do.

I am not going to Nike, mom."

I say, "Michael, you have to give them an opportunity."

And she made me get on that plane and go listen.

Go into that meeting.

I'm not wanting to be there.

Nike made this big pitch, and my father said,

"you got to be a fool for not taking this deal. This is the best deal."

Back then,

the best guys might have gotten, like, $100,000 or so,

and he got probably 250.

It was like, "you will pay him what?

A young rookie

that's done nothing?

You must be out of your mind."

When I negotiated the Nike deal, I said to them,

"you're a small company, and if you want Michael Jordan,

he's got to have his own shoe line."

Nike just come out with this new technology for their running shoes

called air soles, and, obviously, Michael played in the air.

I said, "okay, I got it. We're going to call it air Jordan."

"Air Jordan"?

That's got a pretty good ring to it.

J“ I'm your idol the h/ghest title j“

j“ numero uno j“

Nike's expectation when we signed the deal

was at the end of year four,

they hoped to sell $3 million worth of air Jordans.

In year one, we sold $126 million.

J“ / get paid when my record is played j“

j“ to put it short j“

j“ / got it made j“

As a commodity,

Michael Jordan is as hot as a cabbage patch doll right now.

The endorsements are fast and furious.

The photo sessions seem endless.

Like a politician, Jordan moves gracefully

through a crowd of admirers,

s/pping orange juice, collecting business cards.

Deals have already been cut with I/I/I/son sporting goods,

McDonald's.

J“ yo, / never lose j“

j“ / never lost 'cause I'm the boss j“

for a kid, it was almost like

owning a iightsaber from star wars.

You needed that shoe to be like him.

It was more than a status symbol.

You knew this guy was the guy.

J“ yo, respect 'cause / got it made j“

It came in different styles.

The other brands didn't change too much.

Jordan changed with the time.

Everybody was like, "you got to get a pair of Jordans."

And so every year, we would save up money.

I would cut grass and do chores and save up money,

and wait in line at foot locker.

Before Michael Jordan,

sneakers were just for playing basketball.

And, all of a sudden, sneakers became fashion and culture.

My first film was called she's gotta have it,

and I played a character named Mars blackmon.

And I made sure that Mars

would be wearing a pair of air Jordans

because Michael is the hero of the youth today.

You stepped on my brand-new white air Jordans I just bought!

- How much you pay for them? - 100 bucks!

- American dollars? - 108 with tax!

- I'd give him 100 headaches. - Look at his feet!

You know, the fact that Nike used spike Lee

to produce Jordan commercials

suddenly brought urban culture

and crossed it together with sports.

Mark.

Yo, Mars blackmon here with my main man, Michael Jordan.

Yo, Mike, what makes you the best player in the universe?

- Is it the vicious dunks? - No, Mars.

- Is it the haircut? - No, Mars.

- Is it the shoes? - No, Mars.

Money, it's got to be the shoes! The shoes.

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shoes.

- You sure it's not the shoes? - I'm sure, Mars.

Cut.

My game was my biggest endorsement.

What I did on the basketball court...

My dedication to the game led to all this other stuff.

Believe me, if I was averaging two points, three rebounds,

I wouldn't have signed anything with anybody, you know,

so my game did all my talking.

We are back at Madison square garden.

Michael Jordan wearing the or/gina/ air Jordans

that he wore the first time he played in Madison square garden back in 7984.

And Michael will get a standing ovation

from the garden crowd here.

Michael, two seconds to shoot over Houston. Got it/

It must be the shoes.

Michael hits again!

This is beautiful basketball that we 're watching.

By halftime, my feet are bleeding.

But I'm having a good game. I don't want to take them off.

Michael/ oh, my goodness/

a number of the players and even two of the officials are laughing.

Michael Jordan now has 40 points.

Only one guy has this le ve/ of artistry.

Spinning in the Lane for the slam/

and spike Lee is all over Michael Jordan,

and Michael has a few words by way of retort.

He kept telling him that he couldn't guard him.

He said, ”you can't guard me. You too little. ”

Then he says, ”hey, you come out here. You come out. ”

Michael with 42,

and if this was Michael Jordan's final game at Madison square garden,

he leaves no doubt whatsoever that he exits just as he entered:

The best there is.

I couldn't take those shoes off fast enough, and when I took the shoes off,

my sock was soaked in blood.

You know, it's kind of fun to come back here and play

and remember some of the old days and some of the things that,

some of the games that I've had here,

and the shoes are the part of that, so, you know, my feet are killing me.

Close that door! Hey! Close that door!

How you been doing?

Take care, Mike.

J“ here they come, yo here they come j“

Prior to the season of '92,

the team talked about the difficulty of repeating.

And we had this statement, "you're only a success

at the moment you perform a successful act.

You have to do it again."

J“ who's the black sheep? What's the black sheep .7 j“

j“ don't know who / am or when I'm coming, so you sleep... j“

Jordan with the block and then the save, which was unbelie vab/e/

j“ lfit's all fight with you ill do this here one apart j“

I've always thought that the '92 team

was maybe the best bulls team ever.

J“ you can get with this or you can get with that j“

j“ you can get with this or you can get with that j“

j“ you can get with this or you can get with that j“

j“ I think you'll go with this 'cause this is where it's at j“

j“ you can get with this or you can get with that j“

j“ you can get with this... j“

Starting with that season,

I felt Michael Jordan never played basketball anymore.

He just figured out how to win the game.

He knew how to steer momentum.

He knew how to get guys going.

And not only was he that good on the offensive end,

he was just as good on the defensive end.

So he was just playing a different game than the rest of us.

He let us play, but he was there to win the game.

And he knew that, and once he figured that out,

you couldn't beat him.

Good evening, basketball fans, where ver you may be.

Ton/ght begins the 7992 NBA finals.

The Chicago Bulls, the Portland trail blazers,

the two best teams in the NBA, go head-to-head.

We have two great teams led by two superstar players.

All eyes will be focused on the matchup of drex/er and Jordan.

And when you look at these two players,

there's not a whole lot of difference between them.

Both had outstanding seasons,

seasons that statistically mirrored each other.

Clyde ”the glide” says, ”we 're the two best in the game,

but I'm not getting into a war of words with Mike. ”

Clyde was a threat.

You know, I'm not saying he wasn't a threat,

but me being compared to him, I took offense to that.

I'm working for nbc.

I'm covering the finals.

So, the night before game 1,

we're at Michael's house playing cards, and he said,

"you know what's going to happen tomorrow.

I'm going to give it to this dude."

And the matchup at the start,

Michael Jordan facing Clyde drex/er.

Jordan from three-point land/

so, he hit that first three.

- Here's p/ppen. - And here come the second one.

Another three/

the third one...

Back to Jordan. For three/

his fourth three-point field goal/

Michael Jordan, with four three-pointers in the half

has tied the NBA finals record

Michael didn't want anybody

to have nothing over him.

Jordan for three/ yes/

an NBA finals record,

fl've three-pointers in a half/

and every time he hit that three, he'd glance over at me, at the nbc table.

Here's Jordan again from downtown.

Did you see that look? Michael indicating he can't believe it/

an NBA championsh/p record,

35 points in the half

and he was like,

"I'm killin' this dude."

Based on the way I was playing at that time,

it wasn't even close,

so I attacked him every night.

Here's Jordan.

Jordan! Yes/

five seconds.

Wide open.

Oh, what a bomb by Jordan.

Amazing!

Here's Jordan.

Four-point Chicago lead

drex/er thought they m/ght ha ve a time-out remaining.

The Chicago Bulls have won the NBA championsh/p

for the second stra/ght season!

One is great. Two is almost impossible.

Congratulations, Chicago.

This is the happiest moment.

Oh, it feels so good!

The one thing I would say, and I'd say it from Jerry reinsdorf on down,

this is a great organization.

This organization is special, from Jerry...

It starts with Jerry, and it goes down all the way to Joe Lee,

our clubhouse guy who's been here 25 years.

It's an organization thing, and that's what it's all about.

The team is a great team, but the organization

is one of the all-time great, if not the greatest organization ever.

That's what I'm so much proud of.

Yeah!

Coming off his second championship,

second finals mvp,

second mvp season, Michael was the king of the world,

and it was the first year that we were trying

to get the pros into the Olympics.

Uh... in a week.

Yeah.

- Hey, Phil! - I'm in charge of it tonight.

- He knows the neighborhood? - Phil!

I tell you, the Olympics...

With the United States basketball taking a beating in international play,

the call went out for NBA help.

The result?

In 1992, for the first time,

a team of mostly NBA players will defend america's olympic pride.

Before the '92 Olympics,

rod Thorn calls me and says,

"we would love for you to be on the dream team.

I says “oh, who's all playing?"

He says, "uh... what does that mean?" I say, "who's all playing?"

He says, "well, the guy you're talking about or you're thinking about,

he's not going to be playing."

All right.

No Isiah Thomas questions.

Cool.

Now, there has been speculation

that your icy relationship with Isiah Thomas

is the reason that he was not selected.

I respect Isiah Thomas' talent.

To me, the best point guard of all time is magic Johnson,

and right behind him is Isiah Thomas.

No matter how much I hate him, you know, I respect his game.

Now, it was insinuated that I was asking about him,

but I never threw his name in there.

I don't know what went into that process.

I met the criteria to be selected...

But I wasn't.

The dream team, based on the environment

and the camaraderie that happened on that team...

It was the best Harmony.

Would Isiah have made a different feeling on that team? Yes.

- Magic Johnson angry. - He's very upset.

At that point, magic and Isiah had had their thing.

Bird and Isiah had their thing.

And scottie.

It was half the team.

They did not want to play with him.

Everybody puts it on Michael

because we knew that dislike was out in the open.

They left the bench, although there's 7.9 seconds remaining.

7'he pistons just left.

But there was a lot more to it than that.

You want to attribute it to me, go ahead, be my guest, but it wasn't me.

I/I/ith Jordan, p/ppen, magic, and bird leading the way,

this team is billed as the greatest ever assembled

The practices and the camaraderie.

You know, a lot of the guys bonded together.

J“ sometimes ldream j“

j“ that he is me j“

j“ I just want to be like Chuck lmean, Mike j“

Great.

You can't get too close to Michael. It's a foul.

My goodness.

I don't think you ever fouled out of a game.

When he ever foul out of a game?

I'm the young guy with the elder statesmen.

That's right.

They all have to listen to me.

Whatever I say goes.

Man, I had some of my fondest memories

just hanging out with Michael.

We played cards every night against each other,

and if I had the upper hand,

he wanted to play another hour.

Another hour.

And then he never wants to just beat you.

He wants to put his foot on your neck and just...

I mean, you're not satisfied with beating me?

You want to crush me too? "Yep."

They had a practice game in monte Carlo,

and magic and barkley's team

got off to a big lead.

Whoo! Yes!

That was the greatest basketball, I think, that we all were involved in.

Great passing, great shooting, great defense.

All NBA players going back and forth at each other.

There was real trash talking going on,

particularly from Charles and magic toward Michael.

Don't be cheating on me!

Magic always got under Michael's skin for some reason.

It's all right! That's all right! Here we go!

We're up about eight points, I think it was, something like that,

and I went over and tapped him...

And I said, "look, man. If you don't turn into air Jordan,

we going to blow you out."

Man, what did I say that for?

Michael proceeded to score every time down the court.

It was like, "okay, you want to know who the guy is. Here is who the guy is."

He broke the huddle, hit a three. Bam!

Came back down, hit another three. Bam!

Came through the middle and just shook everybody. Bam!

Yes! Yes!

He drove to the basket,

and the referee called a foul.

And magic threw the ball up to the top of the arena,

and was screaming about,

"just like the NBA! He gets every call! It's the same thing over here!"

Oh, no, no, no. Come on now.

After the practice, they get on the bus to go back to the hotel,

and for a couple minutes, there's, like, no talking.

When we got on the bus, it was... whew, man!

And all of a sudden, magic says to barkley,

he said, "hey, Charles, I guess we shouldn't have pissed the man off."

And then everybody, "this is the greatest practice ever. We love this."

Ooh, la, la!

After that game, everyone kind of acknowledged

we were in a new era.

Michael Jordan was the Alpha Alpha.

Penod.

- Michael. - Huh?

Game on the line, who would take the last shot?

That's a dumb question. Me.

But now a cavalry rides to the rescue.

As the Olympics open to NBA players,

the us sends the greatest team e ver assembled

the United States will be the overwhelming favorite in Barcelona.

Among the competition, though, there's one team that stands out.

Like the usa, it's loaded with talent.

Croatia has built a basketball powerhouse.

There's Toni kukoc,

the 6'10" wizard they call "the left-handed magic Johnson."

A lot of excitement about tomorrow's game against Croatia,

our first chance to see Toni kukoc against this kind of competition.

What do you know about him and them?

Well, I don't know a lot about him, but if you listen to Michael and scottie,

they know a whole lot about him because, apparently,

it was some mixed emotions about him going to Chicago.

With the second pick in the second round,

the Chicago Bulls select Toni kukoc.

Toni's certainly an outstanding young prospect,

but I also think that he's an outstanding young man.

After I was drafted by the bulls,

the situation home was not so great

because of the war and everything.

Yugoslavia is, of course, a country divided

in June, two of its republics, Croatia and Slovenia,

declared their independence, /gniting a bloody civil war.

I just decided to play a couple more years in Europe first,

just to be there and, kind of, just to not take off completely.

And I was making considerably more in Europe

than I would make my first couple years here.

We're not talking little money.

We're talking a couple million.

Jerry went over to watch Toni play in what was then yugoslavia

and said, "Toni kukoc is going to be the future of the Chicago Bulls."

Jerry was fawning over Toni so much

while our team here was winning championships,

and it just... it rubbed a lot of the players the wrong way, unfortunately.

The timing of this kukoc thing is where the problem has been all along, okay?

He went out to negotiate with kukoc

while pippen was waiting to sign the deal that he's currently under.

They kind of put him on hold while they negotiated with kukoc.

Krause, you know, he's willing to put someone in front of his actual kids,

who have given him everything that we could give him.

At that time, I have no idea what was going on with the bulls.

I don't know the frictions in between scottie and Jerry, Michael and Jerry.

So going to the Olympics, I kind of thought everything was okay.

The major story line that carries into this game

involves European star Toni k ukoc.

In the dream team locker room before the first game against Croatia,

Michael says, "hey, guys. Kukoc.

Leave him for scottie and me."

K ukoc being played by p/ppen.

And k ukoc went to the re verse.

Here's Jordan with a step on k ukoc.

K ukoc trying to return it. P/ppen with the steal.

Well, I didn't play a good game.

I got surprised by how strict they played defense.

I didn't expect somebody to be next to me literally the whole game.

Jordan and p/ppen are intent on showing their superiority.

Toni kukoc became a great teammate,

and I love Toni kukoc for who he is.

But the way he was introduced to me and scottie was...

You know, I didn't appreciate it, and it drove my energy.

And at this point, Toni k ukoc,

zero points, zero rebounds for the Croatian team.

Jordan and p/ppen ha ve been all over him.

I feel bad for Toni.

You know, I thought Michael and scottie were out of line.

He was terrified!

There's p/ppen again!

Here's p/ppen giving the roll.

A third foul. P/ppen with a setup for Malone.

Well, to this point, it has been all scottie p/ppen.

Jerry paved the way for a lot of hell for Toni kukoc.

Not only was it just me and Michael, but every guy on the olympic team

looked at that kid and felt like,

"he may not even think about coming to the NBA after he played against us."

And the pressure continues.

It wasn't anything personally about Toni,

but we were going to do everything that we could to make Jerry look bad.

78 off of a 79-5 run. Jordan rejected k ukoc!

Here is a three-on-two.

P/ppen all the way!

A 33-point victory.

P/ppen also holding Toni k ukoc to four points.

I know scottie was a little pissed about all the publicity surrounding kukoc,

and he proved today if they going to give anybody in Chicago any more money,

it better be him.

You know, I still hear talk that, "he just had a bad game. He was nervous."

But if he's that nervous, then he can't come to the NBA and play two games.

They didn't know me.

I mean, I don't see a reason why would they try to take it on me.

They don't know me at all.

That's the first time we meet.

Yeah, that's a little bit unfair to him.

I mean, you got to realize,

the guy was playing against 11 of the best players in the league.

Once we're in the finals, because, obviously,

United States is going to be the second finalist,

then we'll play.

Coming up shortly,

the dream team, the us men's basketball team,

will take on Croatia for the gold medal.

Well, this the second meeting between the United States and Croatia.

The last time they met, last week, the United States won by 33 points.

For the second game when we played them, kukoc came back,

and I give him credit.

He came back and played a much better game than he did the first game.

Toni k ukoc certainly has turned it around

from his performance in the earlier meeting against the United States.

Americans didn't understand how tough people like Toni kukoc were.

They had no idea.

Some people have no idea about the war-torn situations,

and the poverty and the oppression that guys like kukoc came from,

that produced them, that hardened them,

and so it was stupid to call him soft.

He had to fight to gain their respect, and he did it.

To come back after being totally emasculated

showed me a lot about Toni kukoc.

K ukoc now has 76 points, six assists.

I remember Michael coming back in the locker room saying,

"he played pretty well, Matt. He's tougher than we thought."

777-85. And the dream team, as expected, won the game here.

The team won the '92 Olympics,

and then Michael decided that he didn't want

to display the Reebok logo

that was on his uniform.

Maybe Michael Jordan did come to the 92 Olympics

with an innocent desire to recapture his pure love of sport,

but money quickly complicated the sentimental journey.

Reebok had spent millions to outfit the teams in Barcelona

and expected all us athletes to display its logo,

especially the h/gh-profl'le dream team.

Who's that?

Michael was so singular in his competitive drive,

and a drive that extended to his partners, like Nike,

that he could not bear the thought of wearing the Reebok logo

on a global stage,

receiving a gold medal at the Olympics.

So he covered the Reebok logo up

with the United States flag.

Michael Jordan draped in the American flag.

It was extraordinary.

And that is not just solely for patriotic reasons.

Here in Barcelona in the Olympics,

these folks have done a job taking basketball,

and Michael Jordan particularly,

to unbelievable heights.

Michael was the face of the dream team,

and the dream team changed everything about international basketball.

The dream team is entirely responsible for the NBA's profile

taking a massive jump forward.

It just... it shaped how the world felt about the NBA.

Michael Jordan, the dream team,

helped bring sports into that place

of cultural influence globally,

so it wasn't just music that was cool.

It wasn't just fashion in the us that was translating into other countries.

All of a sudden, it was the NBA.

I think it was the first time that sports was being sold in a cultural way.

We were selling americana,

and then what attached to it was this incredibly handsome,

successful player, his swagger...

And people wanted to be part of that.

After the Olympics, Michael was the most recognizable,

the most popular sports figure

but, really, cultural figure, in the world.

He was really a global superstar.

Everyone around the world knew Michael Jordan.

J“ sometimes ldream j“

j“ that he is me j“

j“ you've got to see that's how / dream to be j“

j“ bum, bum, bum, bum, bum j“

once he got to the point where it was, "be like Mike"...

J“ I'd like to be like Mike j“

that changed everything for him.

There's pressure to be like Mike.

If you're going to be like him, you've got to be clean.

You've got to be teflon.

You've got to be completely spotless as a person,

and no human being is like that.

J“ be like Mike j“

I” like Mike I”

I I'd like to be like Mike I

any African American in this society that sees significant success...

Has an added burden,

and a lot of times, america is very quick to embrace

a Michael Jordan or an Oprah Winfrey or a Barack Obama...

So long as it's understood that you don't get too controversial

around broader issues of social justice.

Part of the reason he remained popular

is that he never did anything to piss anybody off.

Probably the most controversial thing Jordan said in his career

was when Harvey gantt was running for senate

to be the first African American from north Carolina

to serve in the us senate.

Michael would not come out and endorse or support gantt,

and was quoted as saying,

"Republicans buy sneakers too."

Democrats in north Carolina have nominated Harvey gantt

as their candidate for the senate.

If he defeats incumbent Jesse helms,

gantt would become the state's first black senator.

1990 north Carolina Senate Race,

you have the infamous Jesse helms

and an African American by the name of Harvey gantt.

The stakes are really high.

Jesse helms was a reprehensible figure

in terms of his racism and conservative politics.

There's nothing cool about Jesse helms.

Jesse helms can take full credit, or blame,

for killing a new national African American museum.

Helms also stood against the Martin Luther King holiday.

I'm not saying to you that we wouldn't have segregated schools

or largely segregated schools under a freedom-of-choice plan,

such as I've suggested,

but I will say to you that that would be the choice.

Michael refuses to do a commercial

to support Harvey gantt,

and the statement that emerges, "Republicans buy nikes too,"

sounds as though Michael is saying,

"my personal wealth is more important than my politics

as it pertains to the issue of race."

I don't think that statement needs to be corrected

because I said it in jest,

you know, on a bus with Horace Grant and scottie pippen.

And it was, you know, thrown off the cuff.

My mother asked to do a psa for Harvey gantt, and I said, "look, mom.

I'm not speaking out of pocket about someone I don't know,

but I will send a contribution to support him,"

which is what I did.

Conservative incumbent Jesse helms won a fourth term,

defeating liberal black Harvey gantt.

There's no joy in mudville tonight.

Gantt was not bitter in defeat,

but this contest proves that race is still a powerful issue

in American politics.

Michael did lose some credibility with the African American audience,

and people were disappointed because he did not come out and support gantt.

Everybody in the world respects Muhammad Ali.

You know why? Because he stood for something.

He stood for something, even if it meant sacrificing a payday.

We respect that.

Ultimately, Michael Jordan may be forgotten.

Muhammad Ali won't be forgotten.

I do commend Muhammad all for standing up for what he believed in.

But I never thought of myself as an activist.

I thought of myself as a basketball player.

I wasn't a politician when I was playing my sport.

You know, I was focused on my craft.

Was that selfish? Probably, but that was my energy.

That's where my energy was.

I'll be honest that when it was reported

that Michael said, you know, "Republicans buy sneakers too,"

you know, for somebody who was, at that time,

preparing for a career in civil rights law and in public life,

and knowing what Jesse helms stood for,

you would've wanted to see Michael push harder on that.

On the other hand,

he was still trying to figure out, "how am I managing this image

that has been created around me? And how do I live up to it?"

It's never going to be enough for everybody. I know that. I realize that.

You know, 'cause everybody has a preconceived idea

in terms of what they think I should do and what I shouldn't do.

The way that I go about my life is I set examples.

And if it inspires you, great.

You know, I will continue to do that.

If it doesn't, then maybe I'm not the person that you should be following.

In '97 and '98, the ticket requests, you know,

went through the roof because there was a question Mark.

You know, did Michael want to play? Did he want to retire?

And that year, we put our tickets on sale on a Saturday morning at 10:00,

and people lined up at the Chicago stadium.

By noon, the entire season was sold out.

But then every request was a battle for the rest of the season.

Michael, on most nights,

would need anywhere from 12 to 20 tickets.

Other players would want some.

And it was funny too, because, at some point, I had to limit the players.

You know, we didn't have unlimited tickets in those days.

Hey.

Bam.

Just kidding.

Hey, that's a lie.

Do not take that off the tape either.

- You better. Shit! - He's not kidding.

Lord, I got a witness.

He's not kidding. Make sure y'all don't edit that off.

Get your ass on out of here now. I gave you a ticket. Get the hell on out.

Thank you. Make sure y'all don't edit that off. He ain't kidding.

The road was sometimes more challenging than at home

because you were dealing in other people's arenas.

When he played down in Atlanta, the bulls played down there,

and they had more people than you'd have for a football game in the Atlanta dome,

just to see Michael.

I” uh-huh uh-huh I”

I baby yeah, yeah I

I cut it up uh-huh I

I yeah, yeah uh-huh I

I uh-huh I

I aha hush that fuss I

I everybody move to the back of the bus I

NBA record 62, 046 fans packed into the Georgia dome

to see what may ha ve been Michael Jordan's final game in Atlanta.

And right now, if we had another 15,000 seats,

I believe we could still sell 'em for this game.

It's the hottest thing I've ever seen.

All I know is, when the tickets came this morning, my wife ran downstairs,

and she was crying, she was so happy, so I'm the hero.

Oh!

There's nothing you can do about that. See? That's Michael Jordan at his best.

Everywhere you went, people wanted tickets,

but it became overwhelming.

We going to see Michael Jordan!

I say aha hush that fuss I

I everybody move to the back of the bus I

I do you want to bump and slump with us?

I we the type of people to make the club get crunk I

I say aha hush that fuss I

I everybody move to the back of the bus I

We save a lot of money and we traveled 24 hours

to see Chicago Bulls.

It's a dream!

Tonight's game is sold out.

Do not purchase tickets from scalpers on seventh Avenue.

They are counterfeit.

And everybody in the world begged me for tickets.

You know, movie stars would come in, and celebrities would come in.

You got to know people.

I can beg. I'm a beggar.

If there's tickets to be gotten, I will find them.

I say aha hush that fuss I

I everybody move to the back of the bus I

I do you want to bump and slump with us? I

I we the type of people to make the club get crunk I

people expect you to still put on a show and he does that each and every night.

Like, hey, look, I want to be like Mike also, okay?

Oh!

Michael doesn't pass me the ball that well.

- You heard it here first. - He doesn't pass me the ball at all.

I want Michael to play as long as he wants.

Right now, he's at the top of his game.

It's a shame what krause and reinsdorf are doing. I don't understand it.

The similarity between the bulls and seinfe/o?

The show of the '90s, the team of the '90s,

and I'm trying to make quitting the move of the '90s.

Let the new people in.

- What's up, partner? - How you doing? Good to see you.

Haven't seen you since the photos hit.

These are a couple of your good friends right here.

Every day we come in and watch the game, they're watching your show.

And I'm saying, "sooner or later, you got to get tired of seinfeld“

- Hey, Phil. - How you doing?

- All right, have a good game. - Principal's kicking you out.

- Yeah. Good to see you. - All right. I'll see you, Jerry.

All right.

This is not going to work, by the way. I would get that out of there.

Just give the ball to Michael.

- How you doing? - All right.

Have a good game.

When you get to the top,

it's great to be admired and respected.

I'm not saying that wasn't fun.

But every time I would get by myself

and I think about the end of the season, the ultimate goal,

holding up that championship trophy,

and being recognized as the best team in the world,

it's something at the end of this rainbow that I'm fighting for,

and I'm going to give every little bit to get to it.