If you’re wondering why Michael Jordan is making headlines again -- 22 years after his final season with the Chicago Bulls -- it’s because the basketball legend is the subject of ESPN’s highly-anticipated documentary The Last Dance. Director Jason Hehir’s 10-part series will look back on Jordan’s entire career while chronicling the Bulls’ efforts to win a sixth NBA title during the 1997-98 season.
While critics and fans alike have been abuzz about The Last Dance for months, clamor for the docuseries reached a fevered pitch following Jordan’s emotional tribute to Kobe Bryant during the late basketball player’s memorial, Space Jam’s debut on Netflix in March, and the suspension of the current NBA season in the wake of multiple players testing positive for COVID-19 and subsequent orders to shelter in place during the coronavirus outbreak across the U.S.
The latter left a huge impact on the ESPN network, which suddenly went from live sports coverage of basketball as well as hockey, soccer and other events to re-airing classic games to fill the time. “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,” ESPN shared, when announcing the premiere of the documentary had been moved from June to April.
“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,” the network continued.
How to Watch and Premiere Schedule: Each episode of the series will exclusively debut on ESPN before immediately becoming available to subscribers of the ESPN App, ESPN.com and ESPN on Demand. The air dates are as follows:
Sunday, April 26: Episode 3 at 9 p.m. ET; episode 4 at 10 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 3: Episode 5 at 9 p.m. ET; episode 6 at 10 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 10: Episode 7 at 9 p.m. ET; episode 8 at 10 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 17: Episode 9 at 9 p.m. ET; episode 10 at 10 p.m. ET
Viewers outside of the U.S. can watch the series on Netflix starting Monday, April 20 at 12:01 a.m. PT. The remaining episodes will debut in pairs the four following Mondays, with parts nine and 10 arriving May 18.
