Distant Replay

The third Sunday with The Last Dance documentary brought us the best episode to date in our opinion in Episode 5. This one had it all and hit on some of the biggest highlights of his career. 

The show begins with a look at Kobe vs Jordan in the 1998 All-Star Game, and we're all lucky to get to hear Kobe talk about MJ and what it mean to face him. 

From there we reach an epic portion of Jordan's career with the Chicago Bulls. You have the 1992 NBA Finals with Jordan topping Clyde Drexler with the shrug becoming THE moment from that series. Then there's another incredible Krause-Jordan joke. 

Just a couple weeks later, Jordan was in Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics with the Dream Team. That should be a 10-part series by itself as you have Isaiah Thomas' exclusion, the greatest practice of all-time, and the lockdown of Toni Kukoc. 

Let's not forget this episode also includes the story of how Converse and Adidas dropped the ball and allowed Nike to build it's empire behind Air Jordan. 

That's a lot to get to so let's get started. Don't forget to check out our website for more info and past episodes of our Last Dance series: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/the-last-dance-documentary-episode-5-6-recap/ 

'The Last Dance' really started picking up steam with the release of episode 4 and we're going to recap the entire hour. 

On this one we got to hear about Dennis Rodman's Vegas bender, Phil Jackson's coaching path to the Bulls, how Chicago changed their workout routine to beat the Bad Boys, and the handshake walkoff that fuels Jordan's hatred to this day. 

That and much more to come on this episode of the Distant Replay Podcast. 

Check out more on this show and other episodes here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/the-last-dance-episode-3-4-recap/ 

We continue on with our recap of 'The Last Dance' documentary on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls after episode 3 aired on April 26. 

In this episode, we get introduced to Dennis Rodman, meet the Bad Boys aka the Detroit Pistons of the late 80s, and watch Michael Jordan continue his ascension to greatness by knocking out the Cavs on a buzzer beater over Ehlo. 

We'll hit all that and more during this episode. 

Check out more on this show and past episodes here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/?p=167 

Episode two debuted right after episode one and it was packed full of new information. Scottie Pippen's bad contract and subsequent dissension were the main story but we got a great look at Jordan's second season with the Bulls and their load management. Plus, a look back to Jordan's upbringing and family dynamic. 

There's a lot to unpack in episode 2 of 'The Last Dance' and we'll do that on this show. 

Get more info on this show and check out more episodes here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/the-last-dance-documentary-episode-1-2-recaps/

We were like all of the sports world on Sunday, April 19, as we watched the debut of 'The Last Dance' documentary on ESPN. The first episode set the stage for what was to come for the 10-part series on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls by showing us just how uncertain that season was going to be. 

Let's recap what we saw on the first episode, including:

-Traveling Cocaine Circus

-Jerry Krause the villian

-Jordan taking shots at Krause all the time

-A look at just how putrid the Bulls were before Jordan

-His college career at UNC

Check out the full show and all of the episodes here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/the-last-dance-documentary-episode-1-2-recaps/ 

No one could close out a game like Michael Jordan and he finished his Bulls career on the highest note possible. We go back to June 14, 1998 for Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were trying to close out Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz to win their sixth championship with MJ.

Of course the ball would find its way into Jordan's hands with the Bulls down one point in the final seconds. 

Read the show notes and watch the full game here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/1998-nba-finals-game-6-chicago-bulls-utah-jazz/ 

It's considered one of the greatest college basketball games ever played thanks to an improbable buzzer beater by Christian Laettner, but what else happened that night between the Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky Wildcats?

We go back to March 28, 1992 for this Elite Eight matchup between two college hoops blue bloods to talk about the game, the broadcast, the officiating, Christian Laettner's mom, Gimel Martinez's mustache, and more. 

Read more and watch the game here: 

We're taking it back to April 5, 1993, for the final game of the NCAA Tournament. It was a classic matchup between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Michigan Wolverines. 

Michigan, led by Steve Fisher, featured the Fab Five in their second season in Ann Arbor and a favorite to win the national championship a year after losing in the final game. 

On the other side, Dean Smith was looking to claim his second national championship in the same venue that saw Michael Jordan hit the game-winner over Georgetown just 11 years prior. 

This was a back and forth game that would have been remembered for years but it was the timeout called by Chris Webber that will forever overshadow everything else that happened that night. 

We went back to watch this game as it originally aired on CBS with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer. A few of the things we'll cover on this episode: 

-The broadcast 

-What if scenarios

-Dean Smith's legacy

-Donald Williams' underrated Final Four performance

-Social media's take on this game

-The video board inside the Superdome

-This was just a few weeks after the legendary Jimmy V speech at the ESPYs. 

Come join us for another episode and make sure you check out the show notes to get the full broadcast link: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-12-1993-ncaa-tourney-national-championship-unc-vs-michigan/ 

Arguably one of the greatest semifinal game of all time, the Duke Blue Devils upset top-ranked UNLV en route to the 1991 national championship. 

Duke, under Coach K, avenged a 30-point loss in the title game the year prior behind Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, and true freshman Grant Hill. 

For UNLV, the loss ended a dream season for Jerry Tarkanian and a talented roster that included Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, Stacy Augmon, Anderson Hunt, and others. The Rebels came into the game as the defending champs and a 34-0 record in the 1990-91 season. Many people expected UNLV to roll on to the final game, but Duke pulled the upset. 

We'll go back and watch this game during a golden era in the sport and talk a lot about what led up to this matchup, the backstory on UNLV sanctions, and how good this Rebels team was.

Then we'll go through the game and highlight key plays, coaching strategy, the broadcast, and playing inside the Hoosier Dome.

Postgame will include the 'What If' segment which throws out an NCAA-Duke conspiracy theory. Plus, social media talk, who the best NBA player wound up being, and what happened to both teams and coaches after this game. 

Make sure you check out our website to get the full video of the game and a link to the column we mention during the show: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-11-1991-final-four-unlv-vs-duke/ 

Kobe and Shaq produced three championships for the Los Angeles Lakers but that almost never happened. The duo, under first-year head coach Phil Jackson, nearly blew a 3-1 lead over the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000 Western Conference Finals. We never think about how the dynasty got started, but it took a 15-point comeback in the fourth quarter to avoid making history for the wrong reasons and it was all punctuated by the alley-oop from Kobe to Shaq and the subsequent reaction by the Big Diesel. 

Today we go back 20 years to watch that pivotal game in NBA history as Rasheed Wallace and the Blazers nearly knocked off the Lakers in the newly-opened Staples Center.

Watch the game and see the show notes here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-10-2000-western-conference-finals-game-7-portland-trail-blazers-la-lakers/