Dennis Rodman has hit the airwaves to share his thoughts on The Last Dance following the airing of the first two episodes on Sunday night.
During his appearance on ESPN’s First Take, Rodman weighed into all the renewed criticism of former Bulls general manager Jerry Krause, who baffled the NBA universe with his desire to break up the Bulls dynasty sooner rather than later.
“So I think with Jerry Krause… I was there those three years and wow, it was something, Molly,” Rodman told First Take’s Molly Qerim Rose.
“I never heard of anything like that, I never seen anything like that before. I never really got into the politics of it, I never asked Michael or Scottie: ‘What is the reason you guys are so bitter towards management?’ I never asked those guys that, but after a couple years, I figured out where it all came from.”
During the second episode, in particular, the rift between Scottie Pippen and Bulls management was front and center.
However, while the Pippen trade talks and contract disputes were a warning, there were other nails being hammered into the coffin.
“I think it really hit the head right there with Phil Jackson when Jerry Krause said he didn’t care if we won 82 games, you’re not coming back,” Rodman said. “I think that hurt Phil Jackson more than anything in the world, and I think that hurt Scottie, it hurt Michael.”
Michael Jordan was already on record as saying that he would not play for any coach other than Jackson, who was convinced to come back for one last season by owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
In fact, they gave Jackson six million reasons on his contract to return for that final year.
Rodman, meanwhile, was just happy to be there and win titles.
“For me, I was just more there for the ride, pretty much,” he said. “I wanted to win championships with these guys. I would go to war for these guys any time of the day.”
Rodman just wishes it all could have lasted a little longer.
“It was just sad the fact that we could have come back and won a fourth championship very easily.”
Episodes three and four of The Last Dance will air on Sunday April 26 at 9pm ET.
For international Netflix release times, click here.