The backlash on 'The Last Dance'

These guys should take a long hard look at themselves

MANILA, Philippines – What is the player’s code that Kendrick Perkins is referring to?

In a nutshell, is it always treat your teammates, coaches, opponents and officials the way you would like to be treated and that means with respect, dignity and sportsmanship at all times?

Hey, Kendrick… you were on NBA on TNT with some of your former Boston teammates, talking about the Celtics organization and Ray Allen. Didn’t Glen “Big Baby” Davis call Doc Rivers “overrated?” And hey, Perk. You called the Oklahoma City Thunder “dysfunctional.”  And hey, didn’t you tell that Paul Pierce spat at the Miami Heat bench and the origins of Pierce’s intense dislike for LeBron James?

You guys call out the stories Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen told about Jerry Krause breaking the Chicago Bulls up. But in that same NBA on TNT episode, you called out your teammates talking about Boston’s betrayal. You should have invited Danny Ainge to the conversation.

So what happened to the player code? Only when it suits you?

Oh, this from a guy who compared Kawhi Leonard to Michael Jordan.

Perkins ripped Michael Jordan post-“The Last Dance” for telling past stories. And the funny thing is… Perkins does it too. His Boston teammates took a multitude of shots at Ray Allen when he left for Miami. 

And more to Horace Grant. Sam Smith mentioned Grant in the acknowledgements of “The Jordan Rules” as he corroborated a story. Whether that is one or more, we will never know. Smith quoted Grant as saying that if the story is the truth, then it is the truth.

And why isn’t Grant calling out Will Perdue and BJ Armstrong? They pointed him as being the source or one of the sources for Smith’s book. 

The funny thing too is — Grant ripped his old Chicago teammates when he left for Orlando. Even his Magic teammate Penny Hardaway corroborated that and used the word “hate” in reference what he felt toward his old team. And for the record, he not only clashed with Jordan, but Jackson too.

If you read “The Jordan Rules”, it isn’t all about Jordan. You will even read of Grant arguing with center Bill Cartwright.

And while Pippen is one of our favorite players, his supposed being livid and regretting participating in the making of the documentary do raise my eyebrows.

If the documentary was written for today’s generation, then it necessitated a lot of backstories. He took some of the scenes out of context. Jordan was referring to that moment of his postponing surgery as “selfish.” In truth, it was. How different is that from checking himself out of that final second against the New York Knicks in the 1994 playoffs? 

In my previous dissertation of “The Last Dance”, I scored director Jason Hehir for leaving out a lot of subplots and stories. He should have done it right regardless of whether he was pressed for time or didn’t have a budget. If Hehir said that Jordan didn’t really approve or disapprove then it falls on to him and not Jordan. He decided the pace and what stories were there. He decided to use what quotes were said. Was anything taken out of context?

The funny thing is when Pippen was traded by Chicago to Houston, he was poisonous to the team that he was jettisoned to Portland. And he was doing his talking, not on the court, but to the media. He was talking to the media about looking for a trade, but he never even bothered to inform Rockets teammate Charles Barkley, who he was playing golf with, that very day the news about his wanting a trade broke.

While “The Last Dance” isn’t perfect and it certainly could use more flavor from the other Bulls teammates, it remains compelling. It is no different from “The Jordan Rules” or all those books written by Jackson, Larry Bird and others.

In fact, hearing people like Perkins and Grant talk is irritating because they sound like a bunch of hypocrites.