There was no one alive — not Coach Smith, not Rod Thorn who drafted him — no one, none of the experts thought that he would become what he became.

– David Falk, Jordan’s agent, 1984-2003

Netflix纪录片The Last Dance 以十集的篇幅生动还原了芝加哥公牛队的辉煌历程，聚焦多个关键人物，尤其是Michael Jordan（乔丹）的非凡故事。影片以主教练Phil Jackson在97-98赛季给球队定下的主题为片名，通过反复对比主要人物在不同时间节点的事件，展现人物发展轨迹。

在90年代的短短八年内，公牛队两次取得NBA三连冠，成为当之无愧的王朝球队。从外界看来，乔丹是天赋异禀的篮球之神，而公牛队是一个坚不可摧的整体，他们的成功自然易如反掌。然而，这部纪录片庖丁解牛般展现了王朝球队背后错综复杂的故事：乔丹远非天生的篮球圣体。与此同时，团队内部的勾心斗角，或能成就一部宫斗戏。而球队每次的总冠军背后都充满了跌宕起伏的波澜和挑战。

乔丹的篮球生涯并非一帆风顺。他在高中时曾被踢出校队，在大学的表现起初也“很不稳定”。不过，“训练时他是最有竞争意识的球员之一" (Coach Smith). 和许多年轻人一样，他也曾眼高手低，想成为学校球场上最厉害的球员，却又对自己随大流的努力程度心满意足。“他说‘我已经和大家一样努力了‘, 我说，‘你不是说想成为这片球场上最出色的球员吗？‘ 他这才说，‘我会让你看到，没人会比我更努力’“ (Roy Williams). 人都有惰性，但乔丹的好胜心和后来的坚持与努力，让他拒绝平庸，走向非凡。1982年NCAA总决赛，比赛还有32秒结束，乔丹所在的UNC Chapel Hill落后于对手乔治城1分。有惊无险，主教练的策略在队友们的执行下使得乔丹在几乎无人防守的情况下成功拿到传球，绝杀成功，帮助学校获得总冠军. “That turned my name from Mike to Michael Jordan. It gave me the confidence that I needed to start to excel at the game of basketball."

1984年大三学年刚一结束，在主教练Coach Smith的建议下，乔丹选择参加NBA选秀，并以三号位被公牛队选中。在乔丹加盟之前，公牛只是一支鱼腩球队，成绩极差，球赛鲜有人问津。球员多沉溺于纸醉金迷之中，公牛队甚至被戏称为“可卡因马戏团”。许多人并未对乔丹这个身高6尺6寸 (约1.98米）的探花秀抱有太大期望。不少人觉得他个子不够高，认为“一个人无法拯救整个球队”。然而，乔丹用实际行动颠覆了所有人的观点。初入联盟，即便大学时期取得了相当的成就，乔丹还是把自己的身段放得非常低（“When I first got to Chicago, I went in considering myself the lowest on the totem pole. Whatever people had been saying about me, I still had to earn my stripes”）很快，乔丹凭借自己在球场上出色的表现赢得了球队所有人的尊重和信任，成为球队主心骨。

作为一项团队运动，公牛队其他队员自然也功不可没。Scottie Pippen和Dennis Rodman同样是公牛的重要支柱。其他球员如Steve Kerr, 也不止一次在关键时刻得分。不过，从片中可以看出乔丹的核心地位无可替代。Rodman是极为出色的防守球员，但是抗压能力欠佳，可靠性不够高，不止一次在关键时刻玩失踪。Pippen虽然有惊人的运动能力，但缺乏乔丹日复一日的专注和驱动力. “Scottie had this raw atheletic ability. What he didn’t have was what Michael brought every day, which was the drive to be the very best every single day, the mental focus of the game.”

1992年奥运会美国“梦之队”近乎碾压式地击败对手，使得美国篮球文化势如破竹般走向国际，来到前所未有的高度。乔丹成为美国文化的标志性人物，影响力远超篮球领域。

公牛队从平凡走向伟大，按乔丹的话说，始于星星之火. “We went from a shitty team to one of the all-time-best dynasties. All you need was one little match to start that whole fire.”

乔丹成功因素探析

• 强烈的竞争意识

  片中相当多的地方可以看出乔丹极强的竞争意识。他会把各种各样的事情当作自己的“加油站”。自己没有拿到赛季MVP、或是自己看不惯的球队经理看上的某个球员，都可以成为他的“私人恩怨”（“It became personal with me”)

  “I put it in my mindset that, ‘If I don’t do this, then they’re going to consider him on the same level as me’, and that motivated me to attack”

  “My innate personality is to win at all costs. If I have to do it myself I’m gonna do it.“

• 出色的心理素质

  乔丹多次在重要比赛中完成绝杀。这离不开冷静地执行战术的能力，溯其根源是稳定的心理素质。Rare Air 的作者Mark Vancil指出，乔丹在强手如林的环境下仍然能够与他人拉开差距的关键在于他有完全专注于当下的能力。

  “Most people struggle to be present. People go and sit in ashrams for 20 years in India, trying to be present. Do yoga, meditate, trying to get here now. Most people live in fear because we project the past into the future. Michael’s a mystic. He was never anywhere else. His gift was not that he could jump high, run fast, shoot a basketball. His gift was that he was completely present, and that was the separator … The big downfall of a lot of players who are otherwise gifted is thinking about failure. Michael didn’t allow what he couldn’t control to get inside his head. He would say, ‘Why would I think about missing a shot I haven’t taken yet?'”

• 通透的人生态度

  人在获得巨大的成功之后往往容易狂妄自大。另一方面，公众人物因为一举一动都被世人关注，背负着巨大的舆论压力。这种双重影响下，顶流塌房的事件不少见。乔丹则活得相当通透。他既清楚地知道自己的名利来自于球场上的表现，也没有过重的偶像包袱，不会因为外界的期望而丧失自我。

  “My game was my biggest endorsement. What I did on the basketball court, my dedication to the game led to all this other stuff. Believe me, if I was averaging two points, three rebounds, I woundn’t have signed anything with anybody, you know? So, my game did all my talking.”

  “Everybody has a preconceived idea in terms of what they think I should do and what I shouldn’t do. The way I go about my life is, I set examples, and if it inspires you, great, you know, I will continue to do that. If it doesn’t, then maybe I’m not the person that you should be following.”

  少时面对无处不在的种族歧视，乔丹则以积极的人生态度把对现状的不满转化为动力。

  “At the time, you had racism all over North Carolina, all over, you know, United States, and there was a lot of it around there. So, as a kid, it was like, ‘Okay, this is where I don’t wan to be.’ You know, ‘I want to excel outside of this.’ So my motivation is to be something outside of Wilmington. For me, it became athletics.”"

• 良好的家庭环境

  乔丹来自于双职工家庭。考虑到当时的社会环境，这十分罕见。乔丹母亲从访谈中可以看出显然是一位知性女性，重视子女教育 (“for me, the first priority was education”). 乔丹的父亲则与乔丹如朋友一般 (“like a friend”) 他们在乔丹的成长和职业生涯中发挥着积极的作用。乔丹的大学校队主教练Coach Smith也表示“Michael’s parents did a tremendous job with him. He was a very fine young man, a very conscientious student, a very good student. “

摘录

• “He was very inconsistent as a freshman, but he was one of the most competitive ones we’ve ever had in our drills. He wanted to get better, and then he had the ability to get better.“ (Coach Smith)

• “Michael Jordan tells me one day he wants to be the best player to ever played here. And I said, ‘well, you got to work harder than you did in high school.’ He said, ‘I worked as hard as everybody else’. I said, ‘Oh, excuse me. I thought you just told me you wanted to be the best player ever played here’. He said, ‘Imma show you. Nobody will ever work as hard as I work.’ " (Roy Williams, UNC assit. coach, 1978-88)

• “Michael got to realize that he’s not 7 foot, so he’s not gonna carry a team in the NBA” (Walt Frazier)

• “I really don’t think that in the NBA anymore there’s any such thing as a one-man team. And I don’t think that you can come in expecting one guy to turn the whole thing around” (Mark Eaton)

• “Olajuwon would have been first by anybody who picked, including me” (Rod Thorn, Bulls general manager, 1978-85)

• “Before Michael Jordan, sneakers were just for playing basketball, and all of a sudden, sneakers became fashion and culture. “ (Roy S. Johnson, Fortune magazine - the Jordan effect)

• “Here in Barcelona, in the Olympics, these folks have done a job taking basketball, and Michael Jordan particularly, to unbelievable heights.”

• “Michael was the face of the Dream Team, and the Dream Team changed everything about international basketball. The Dream Team’s entirely responsible for the NBA’s profile taking a massive jump forward. It shaped how the world felt about the NBA.” （Wilbon）