Long awaited documentary ‘The Last Dance’ which focuses on the Bulls’ 1997-98 season, which culminated in their 6th NBA championship, has been slated for premiere on April 19 2020.
Back throughout the 1997-98 season the Bulls granted unprecedented access to an NBA Entertainment crew giving them full access to the behind the scenes working and management of the team. In addition to this amazing fly-on-the-wall style footage, the documentary will feature contemporary interviews with players and others associated with the team.
The Last Dance will provide 10 one hour long episodes charting the Bulls’ bid for their second historic three-peat championship series.
While there have been other documentaries in the past covering the Bull’s 2 three-peat championship series, The Last Dance will provide a never before seen insight into the team. There is no doubt we will get a front row seat to Jordan’s dominance, Pippen’s support and Rodman’s attitude along with Jackson’s strategy. We even see what goes on on the team plane!
We will also see how the team internally managed ‘The Flu Game’ and watch Jordan overcome serious physical obstacles to lead the team to victory in game 5 while suffering food poisoning.
After a number of years development The Last Dance was set to be released in June 2020 however due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic ESPN has moved the release date forward to April 19 2020. ESPN released the following statement:
As society navigates this time without live sports, viewers are still looking to the sports world to escape and enjoy a collective experience. We’ve heard the calls from fans asking us to move up the release date for this series, and we’re happy to announce that we’ve been able to accelerate the production schedule to do just that. This project celebrates one of the greatest players and dynasties ever, and we hope it can serve as a unifying entertainment experience to fill the role that sports often play in our lives, telling a story that will captivate everyone, not just sports fans.
This is certainly one not to miss! The Last Dance will be aired live on ESPN throughout the US and available on demand through the ESPN app. It will also be available through various online streaming apps including Netflix.
So what does this renewed international interest in Michael Jordan and the Bulls mean for trading cards?
It’s frankly been huge. In the last couple of weeks we have seen some serious price pumps as demand swiftly out strips supply of Michael Jordan cards (as well as other Bulls players). In fact the growth has been so sharp that the entire hobby of collecting basketball cards looks to have had an overall boost in interest!
Here’s a selection of some recent sales:
- Michael Jordan Scoring Kings BGS 9
- January 24 sale: $475
- February 6 sale: $675
- March 12 sale: $688
- April 3 sale: $799
- April 11 sale: $2800
- April 12 sale: $1975 (best offer)
- Michael Jordan Rookie sticker BGS 7
- February 15 sale: $300 (best offer)
- February 22 sale: $350 (best offer)
- March 9 sale: $360
- March 13 sale: $375
- April 11 sale: $750 (best offer)
- Michael Jordan 1992 Stadium Club Beam Team raw (condition sensitive card)
- January 15 sale: $51
- February 4 sale: $71
- March 13 sale: $74.95
- April 9 sale: $120.50
- April 9 sale: $130.50
- April 13 sale: $173.40
It’s likely we’ll see a continued growth to some extent over the time the documentary is in the public eye. It will be very interesting to see how high the interest in Jordan (and Bulls in general) collectibles will go as the world’s sports fans are given the chance to relive the late 90’s!
I have a helpful section worth checking out if you’re looking to buy Michael Jordan cards to grow your collection and get a jump on any continued price growth.
The Last Dance is going to be fantastic - don’t miss this one!