How ‘The Last Dance’ producer with Charlotte ties got to know the real Michael Jordan
As a North Carolina freshman, John Dahl got a plum writing assignment: A one-on-one interview with the basketball team’s emerging star.
Thirty-eight years later, Dahl still tells Michael Jordan’s story. Except now it’s appointment television for five Sunday nights on ESPN.
Dahl, who spent his teen years in Charlotte, is one of the executive producers of “The Last Dance,” the 10-part documentary on Jordan’s final NBA championship run with the Chicago Bulls. When Charlotte Hornets owner Jordan finally signed off on making public the 500 hours of film NBA Entertainment shot in the 1997-98 season, Dahl was largely responsible for making this happen — particularly the expedited production schedule allowing it to be telecast in April, rather than the original June release date.
Dahl has long overseen ESPN’s sport documentaries, including the 30 for 30 series. The extra element he brought to this project was knowing Jordan when he was “Mike,” not world-famous “Michael,” as Chapel Hill classmates.
One of the plot elements of the first night of “Last Dance” -- Jordan surreptitiously playing pick-up basketball in Chapel Hill before his broken foot was completely healed — Dahl lived.
“I saw Michael secretly working out at Woollen Gym,” Dahl recalled to the Observer on Monday, “when he was plotting to come back (early) with the Bulls that ’85-86 season.
“Today, I don’t know if that could have (stayed secret) because of social media. Back then, we kept it quiet. It was just understood.”
A former Independence High quarterback, Dahl started in TV production as a CNN intern (turning down a job at the Charlotte Observer to do so). He was hired as the lone producer when ESPN opened a bureau in Chicago in the late 1980s, which put him back in Jordan’s circles. Dahl remembers bringing the clipping of that story he did on Jordan (for the Chapel Hill News in 1982) to a taping for the Hall of Famer to read.
Dahl felt a special responsibility to get this material right because it was such a leap of faith for Jordan to reveal himself, often in unflattering ways, during those championship runs.
“Having lived in North Carolina, I feel I understand where he comes from,” Dahl said.
“I appreciate him more than ever and I think other people will, too. They certainly should. For who he is, what he stands for, and why he cares so much.”
‘Very personal’
Jordan had veto power over use of the extensive footage NBA Entertainment shot his final season as a Bull. In 2016, Jordan signed off on a documentary. Jason Hehir was chosen to direct the series, which involved cutting hundreds of hours of film down to a few hours of prime drama, and interspersing what became 108 current interviews.
Three of those interviews were lengthy conversations with Jordan: Everything from him reminiscing on letters he wrote his mother from college to profane recollections of interactions with teammates, coaches and the Bulls’ front office.
“He was very receptive to showing what it was really like to be Michael on and off the court,” Dahl said. “You’ll see that in ensuing episodes — particularly episodes five/six and seven/eight. It gets very personal.
“I feel like I know more than most people about Michael ... and yet I’m (still taken aback) by how candid he is. He was not holding back. It’s his competitiveness, too: If he was going to do a documentary project, then by golly, he wants it to be the best. His being forthcoming helps it be the best.”
Flood of material
Production on “The Last Dance” started in 2018. The original footage was film, not videotape, which makes for better quality in what is now a high-definition television world.
Both the best and worst thing about what ESPN inherited was its size: Such opportunity, but also so much to archive, whether it be joy or anger, game footage or social settings, locker room or board meetings.
The drama was easily identified. Then-Bulls general manager Jerry Krause asserted that this would be Phil Jackson’s last as coach. Jordan said he was done if Jackson wasn’t retained. Scottie Pippen felt underpaid and insulted, particularly after word spread that Krause considered trading him.
“How do you take one season — all this access on and off the court.” Dahl said, “and whittle it down, whittle it down into the gems that really tell a story?
“Jason did an unbelievable job of taking that and organizing a story: Connecting the 1997-98 season to Michael Jordan’s backstory, along with Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson and others, like Steve Kerr.”
He added: “The way the film is constructed, past and present — and I mean by present, 1997-98 — are very far apart. Over 10 episodes, past-and-present become closer and closer until they are one and the same.”
Then, the pandemic
The plan was for “The Last Dance” to debut in June after the NBA Finals. Then the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world, and ESPN inquired whether production could be moved up to mid-April, when everyone was home with no live sports to watch.
“I drew up over a dozen scenarios,” Dahl said of speeding up production.
Appreciate how tight the schedule already was: The last interview, with former Utah Jazz guard John Stockton, happened immediately before the country shut down in March. Most final production-quality elements — refining color and sound — were still undone.
When the first two episodes of “The Last Dance” aired Sunday (drawing an ESPN documentary record 6.1 million viewers), the last two episodes still weren’t finished.
“I thought last year was crazy busy,” Dahl said, mentioning the 150th anniversary of college football and the Mike Kzyzewski documentary for the ACC Network debut.
“It was all about when we could finish. Nine and 10 aren’t finished! We land on May 17. It won’t be a day too soon.
“We’ll get there.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 6:42 PM with the headline "How ‘The Last Dance’ producer with Charlotte ties got to know the real Michael Jordan."
