“The Last Dance” Blu Ray box set officially hit the market Tuesday, and with it, more previously unseen Michael Jordan footage.
Headlining the bonus set is fresh film of an interview between Jordan and the late Stuart Scott from June 1998.
Here’s a 90-second clip of said conversation, put out by FanSided Monday. The question Scott poses: “Everybody always talks about the next Michael Jordan. Grant Hill got the label, Jerry Stackhouse got the label, Harold Miner got the label. Kobe’s got it now, Tim Duncan’s even getting it. Is it fair to put the label on these guys as the next Michael Jordan?”
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“It’s not fair,” Jordan responded. “But it is a standard of measurement. When I came in, Dr. J, Elgin Baylor, you know, it’s just a standard of measurement for people to compare to.
“But there’s never going to be another Michael Jordan. There’s never gonna be another Dr. J, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. It’s gonna be Kobe Bryant, it’s gonna be Grant Hill, it’s gonna be Anfernee Hardaway. These guys are gonna have similar traits, it’s how they manifest those traits to be the best basketball player, the best role model that they can be.
“No matter what the league does in terms of trying to promote, you can’t fool the consumer, you can’t fool the fan. So I mean the game is going to say, ‘Well, he’s the next whoever.’ Your game is gonna have to evolve to hold up to that label that the league is trying to promote you with.
NBA
“And it’s a danger to that. It’s a danger to that because the credibility of the game could take a hit. If you start looking for all the dunks and all the exciting plays, you forget about certain fundamentals of moving the ball, getting everyone within a certain working atmosphere, offense of defense.”
Jordan has been consistent on this point. In a recently released interview with Cigar Aficionado (originally shot in 2017), he rejected the notion of comparing players across eras in any sport -- specifically, basketball and golf.
“You're never gonna say, 'Who's the greatest of all time?' to me,” he said. “I think that's more for PR and more for selling stories and getting hype.”
That was nearly two decades after the Scott interview. And he certainly has a point.
Also included in the box set: additional exclusive interviews, ESPN’s cinematic rendering of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals (Game 6: The Movie), SportsCenter episode recaps featuring special guests and a 28-page gallery book.