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The new Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance is available on ESPN but is not yet on Netflix for those living in the United States. Decider reported that The Last Dance will be released on Netflix on Sunday, July 19.
For those outside the U.S., fans are able to stream two new episodes each week on Netflix on the Monday after the initial ESPN release. The two most recent episodes are released internationally on Netflix at 3:01 a.m. Eastern every Monday. The docu-series will conclude on ESPN with the ninth and 10th episode on Sunday, May 17.
The Last Dance was previously scheduled to be released during the NBA Finals in June, but the halting of live sports created a massive demand among fans. Director Jason Hehir was able to get the documentary completed earlier so people could begin watching episodes in April. The documentary is a joint production by ESPN, Netflix and NBA Entertainment.
The Last Dance Averaged 5.8 Million Viewers Through the First 6 Episodes
The ratings for the documentary have been sizable averaging 5.8 million viewers during the first six episodes, per NBA.com. Come July, The Last Dance will be introduced to a new audience when it is released on Netflix.
“Big number on @espn– but now imagine how much bigger #LastDance will be on @netflix on July 19th when the whole series goes up bingeable, commercial-free in the US,” LightShed’s Rich Greenfield tweeted.
The Last Dance Contains Unreleased Footage From More Than 20 Years
For years, there have been rumors about the footage shown in The Last Dance. Michael Jordan and the Bulls agreed to have a documentary crew follow them during their last championship run in the 1997-98 season. Until this docu-series, the footage from that season had not been released. Adam Silver was the head of NBA Entertainment at the time and came to an agreement with Jordan to have his final season with the Bulls documented.
Part of the agreement was that the NBA and Jordan would both have to sign off on the tapes being released. Jordan had been reluctant to release the videos up until this documentary. According to Hehir’s interview with The Athletic, Jordan was initially hesitant to green-light the documentary but was surprisingly candid in the interviews once he agreed.
“From the first moment that I spoke with Michael about this, it was clear that he was going to be a willing participant,” Hehir explained to The Athletic. “I said to him there’s going to be some questions that may be uncomfortable for you but I have to ask them in order for us to tell the most honest story possible. He said from Day 1 that I could ask him whatever I wanted to ask. I think they trusted me enough to tell an honest, responsible story that was not going to be a puff piece but also wasn’t going to be a deliberate exposé. I said to them I wanted to tell a true story about Michael’s time as a Bull and what made him what he is, what made him who he is, and what made that team become what they became.”
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