Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance has already had an insane cultural impact
Michael Jordan’s pursuit of a sixth NBA title is captivating the world again — and the side-effects of his documentary are getting crazy.
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The Last Dance has been a cultural phenomenon and has made a big impact in a strange time in the world’s history.
As the 10-part documentary covering Michael Jordan chasing his sixth and final NBA championship in the 1998 season has ended, the series has taken the legendary superstar to near mythological levels.
While His Airness was already a cultural phenomenon, a sporting billionaire, NBA team owner, enigma and arguably the greatest player to bounce a ball, the series has taken everything to the next level.
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Brought forward to air during the coronavirus pandemic, the series quickly made history.
The debut episode shattered all records for ESPN, becoming the most watched documentary in the sports broadcasters history with 6.1 million viewers on the debut episodes.
But that isn’t the whole story. The last week the network had live sport, it averaged 1.04m viewers in prime time.
The Last Dance also became the best ever rated documentary, easily surpassing the 3.4 million views who watched the premiere of O.J.: Made in America in 2016, and best numbers for any ESPN original with 2004’s You Don’t Know Bo, which had 3.6 million viewers.
In fact every episode of the series has surpassed those numbers.
Director Jason Hehir said in a statement that the 1990s Bull were “a global phenomenon”.
“Making The Last Dance was an incredible opportunity to explore the extraordinary impact of one man and one team,” Hehir said.
“For nearly three years, we searched far and wide to present the definitive story of an era-defining dynasty and to present these sports heroes as humans.”
But while the documentary has almost every other sport in the world scrambling for their own The Last Dance, the series has had an impact well beyond the sporting realm.
GAMING
In the States, video gaming was up 75 per cent in the first week of self-isolation. Jordan took it to another level.
While the season was in full swing before the NBA sparked the sporting world to fall like dominoes into shutting down, the league has been trying to come up with other ideas.
Dropping a virtual H-O-R-S-E tournament for ESPN that was widely panned by fans, the 2K Players’ Tournament did quite well with the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker taking out the title.
It even had 400,000 viewers on the opening night which was a good effort for an unproven event.
Congrats to @DevinBook on becoming the first-ever NBA 2K Players Tournament Champion! 2K, the NBA and NBPA are all contributing a $100,000 donation in Devin's name to Direct Relief and Arizona Food Bank Network in support of ongoing coronavirus relief efforts. #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/Fsiv56WEgE
— NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2020
But while these events helped fans suffering withdrawals from live NBA action, the game itself has provided a new way into the Jordan mythology on the back of The Last Dance.
After episode one and two dropped, hundreds of thousands of fans from across the world began using Jordan’s Bulls, doubling the previous playing rates according to 2K with six different teams featuring Jordan available to play.
After episodes three and four came out, those using the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons tripled while all teams featured in the series including the 1985-86 Celtics, 1990-91 Lakers and 1990-91 Trail Blazers have all seen bumps in usage rates.
“2K is proud to incorporate so many historic players and teams, including the 90’s Bulls, so seeing the jump in engagement that The Last Dance has caused is really exciting,” VP of Global Marketing at 2K Aflie Brody told news.com.au. “While many of those watching the docuseries didn’t grow up watching Jordan, his legacy is undeniable, so we’re thrilled fans are taking the time to experience that through NBA 2K and the six Jordan-led Bulls teams available in the game.”
FASHION
One of the more unexpected impacts of The Last Dance has been in the 90s fashion stakes.
Baggy suits, backwards berets and single gold earrings, Jordan was widely panned for his fashion sense, but was at the time the epitome of cool – guess it helps being the biggest sportsperson in the world.
But The Last Dance has brought 90s NBA style back to the masses.
A report this week revealed “shoppers are also searching for basketball shorts (demand is up 12 per cent) and tank tops (a 20 per cent spike), Lyst data released to News Corp exclusively shows”.
A self-described “suit guy”, Jordan seemingly paved the way for current NBA stars and their unique fashion senses as players are encouraged to express themselves.
Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s former creative director for product design told the Chicago Tribune that Jordan changed the game in regards to fashion.
“It’s really pretty fascinating, but if you were around the NBA 15 years ago those guys dressed very poorly,” Hatfield said.
“Now when you go to a game, everybody dresses well and it all comes from the Michael Jordan effect.”
And fans are in on the craze as well with eBay reporting a 180 per cent increase in searches for “Jordan”, “basketball jerseys” up 89 per cent and “basketball shorts” up 65 per cent while signed items up are up 306 per cent and vintage Bulls gear is up 458 per cent.
But bizarrely, beret sales have increased 44 per cent and tank tops are up 45 per cent.
“We've seen the likes of the Hadid sisters rocking '90s-inspired fashion and now iconic stars like Cindy Crawford are digging out their vintage Bulls merch in honour of the show,” eBay Australia's Sophie Onikul said.
SHOES
Arguably there is nothing – almost not even basketball – more synonymous with Michael Jordan than shoes.
His Air Jordan sneakers are still highly coveted and the series has breathed new life into the resell market for the sneakers.
According to the website Stockx, where people can buy and sell sneakers like stocks, the 2015 Air Jordan 1 “Chicago” retro trainer’s were sold at an average of $925 ($1414).
When the documentary first aired, the price went to $1241 ($A1897)
UK sneaker collector Paul Barber said the shoe had a special significance for fans.
“That sneaker started a revolution, it sparked a fire that even 35 years later still burns bright. The Jordan 1 is symbolic, but also it's a good identifier for who you are,” Barber told CNN.
“People see you in that sneaker and they know instantly that you're into your kicks. You'll see people check out your sneakers and they'll give you a little nod of the head of appreciation.”
But it is nowhere near the crazy highs though with Jordan sneakers going for an insane price.
Sotheby’s put up Jordan’s pair of the famous Air Jordan 1s from 1985, the original design custom-made sneakers by Nike for Jordan with the vintage red, black and white sneakers – worn and signed by Jordan himself and originally expected to fetch $A153,000 – hit a record breaking $US560,000 ($A863,455) when it went under the hammer.
It shattered the all-time record for sneakers at an auction was $A669,000 for Nike’s “Moon Shoe” in 2019, also sold by Sotheby’s.
MEMORABILIA
Game six of the 1998 NBA Finals probably reveals why Michael Jordan has endured as a public figure for so long.
While children born in that year are now in their twenties, there are plenty of basketball fans who weren’t old enough to have seen the game yet still know who Jordan is.
The Last Dance may have been pretty big for ESPN during the pandemic, but reportedly 72 million people tuned in at some point during the match to see MJ seal his sixth championship.
Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals will forever be the most watched basketball game of all time.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 18, 2020
72 million people (26% of the US population at the time) watched at least some part of the game.#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/HOxSB4dEV2
Since the release of the series, anything Jordan is going for big bucks.
Darren Rovell, who focuses on the Business of Sports Betting for The Action Network, reported some of the weirder Jordan merch out there.
The entire backboard and basket where Jordan hit his final shot with the Bulls, to win his sixth title, was sold in 2015 for $41,825. pic.twitter.com/9dglbY3Bci
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 18, 2020
But anything Jordan is going nuts at the moment. And while he was already one of the most popular trading cards.
His 1986-87 Fleer rookie card recently sold for $51,000 with a 10 gem mint grade and it’s not alone.
Long-time card dealer Bill Sliheet told Trib Live that the market was going insane, all in the glow of The Last Dance.
“The market is changing like I’ve never seen it before,” Sliheet said.
“There’s a lot of new money coming into the hobby just based on that documentary. It’s mind-blowing. Michael Jordan cards have gone up two-fold since the month before The Last Dance was announced.”
PORN
Carmen Electra was one of the shock cameos in the series after her relationship with Jordan’s eccentric teammate Dennis Rodman made it into the series.
Well specifically one moment of the relationship.
Electra, the 1990s “It” girl who posed for Playboy and starred in Baywatch, and NBA star Rodman became an American glamour couple after starting up a romance during the 1997/98 season that saw the Chicago Bulls win their sixth championship of the decade.
In episode four of the series, Rodman took a boozy mid-season getaway to Las Vegas when Jordan rocked up and hauled Rodman out of the apartment while a naked Electra hid behind the lounge and tried to cover herself with bed sheets.
She quickly started trending on Twitter, but not just Twitter.
TMZ reported after the episode was released on April 26th, searches on Pornhub for “Carmen Electra” surged drastically. While she typically managed bout 1500 searches on the website per day, that number rocketed to over 588,000 on one day while it sat well over 100,000 for almost a week.
Thank you MJ.
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