Chicago Bulls

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23.8 million households outside of the U.S. have watched "The Last Dance," according to Netflix. Netflix bases its streaming numbers on whether a member has watched a show for a minimum of two minutes. The last two episodes of "The Last Dance" averaged 5.6 million viewers on ESPN. "The Last Dance" is set to launch on Netflix in America on April 19th.

Jerry Reinsdorf pitched Michael Jordan on returning to the Chicago Bulls for the 98-99 season just a few days into the lockout. "Don't say anything now," Reinsdorf told Jordan. "We're in a lockout. We don't know how long this lockout is going to go. Let's get to the end, and maybe I can talk Phil [Jackson] back into it. Maybe after ... maybe he'll change his mind. So don't say anything." Jordan reaffirmed he wouldn't play for anyone except Jackson, but he agreed to not make any final decisions until Reinsdorf talked to Jackson. "I asked Phil to come back," Reinsdorf said. "And he says, 'No, it's time.' That was the expression he used, 'It's time.'" Reinsdorf watched each episode of The Last Dance twice. "The thing nobody wants to remember," Reinsdorf said, "during lockout, Michael was screwing around with a cigar cutter, and he cut his finger. He couldn't have played that year. He had to have surgery on the finger, so even if we could've brought everybody back, it wouldn't have made any sense." Reinsdorf said it wouldn't have made a difference even if Jordan hadn't injured himself. "The fact is, it's pretty obvious in 1998 that Michael carried this team," he said. "These guys were gassed. He could not have come back because of the cut finger. But even if he could've come back, the other players [Steve Kerr, Luc Longley, Jud Buechler, Dennis Rodman] were going to get offers that were way in excess of what they were worth. "I know in Episode 10, [Jordan] says, 'They all would've come back for one year.' But there's not a chance in the world that Scottie Pippen would've come back on a one-year contract when he knew he could get a much bigger contract someplace else." Pippen went to the Houston Rockets on a five-year, $67.2 million deal in a sign-and-trade. Reinsdorf said he wishes the Bulls could have gone for one more title, but he's at peace with how things ended.

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Ben Taylor of Thinking Basketball and the COVID Daily News podcast (@ElGee35) break down The Last Dance. They discuss the narratives that shaped the story, Scottie Pippen's place on the Bulls and in NBA history, whether the Bulls could have run it back in 1998-99 and much more. Sponsored by BetOnline Subscribe to RealGM Radio on iTunes or via the RSS feed.

Michael Jordan said he was willing to sign a one-year contract with the Chicago Bulls after the 97-98 season in an attempt to win their fourth straight championship. "If you asked all the guys who won in '98 ... 'We'll give you a one-year contract to try for a seventh,' you think they would've signed? Yes, they would've signed," Jordan said. "Would I have signed for one year? Yes, I would've signed for one year. I've been signing one-year contracts up to that." Jerry Krause told Phil Jackson that the 97-98 season would be his last with the Bulls no matter what. But after the Bulls won their sixth title, Jerry Reinsdorf offered Jackson the opportunity to return. "After the sixth championship, I offered him the opportunity to come back," Reinsdorf said. "[I said,] 'You've earned the opportunity to come back, regardless of what was said before now.'" Jackson declined. "I said, 'Well, I think I should just take a break,'" Jackson said. "I don't think it's fair to Jerry [Krause], and I know it would be difficult for him to accept that." Jordan was showed footage of Jackson and Reinsdorf recounting the exchange. "I can't wait to hear this. We've never had any dialogue about [it]. I've made my own assumptions about it," said Jordan. As Jordan watched, his eyebrows popped up, and a disbelieving smirk crawled across his face. "In '98, Krause already said at the beginning of the season, 'Phil can go 82-0, and he was never gonna be the coach.' So when Phil said it was the last dance, it was the last dance," Jordan said after watching the clip. "We knew they weren't going to keep the team. Now, they could've nixed all of it at the beginning of '98. Why say that statement at the beginning of '98?" Jordan said he would have signed another contract to win their seventh title. "Would Phil have done it? Yes," he continued. "Now, Pip, you would've had to do some convincing. But if Phil was going to be there, if Dennis was going to be there, if MJ was going to be there, to win our seventh? Pip is not going to miss out on that."