Michael Jordan celebrates the Bulls win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals in Chicago in 1992. Photo / AP
Michael Jordan celebrates the Bulls win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals in Chicago in 1992. Photo / AP
The world is hooked on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
No, we haven't entered a time warp, but the Bulls have become the talk of sports fans everywhere thanks to ESPN's 10-part docu-series on their final championship run in 1997/98.
Over 10,000 hours of footage from that season have been spliced with interviews with some of the biggest characters in basketball during the Bulls' decade of dominance to create the television masterpiece.
Huge numbers tuned in for the opening two episodes when they aired last week on ESPN in America and then globally on Netflix.
The task of putting everything together was put on the shoulders of director Jason Hehir, who said while it was gruelling, it was a privilege to be able to dive into the treasure trove of content.
"It was gruelling in several ways, but it's a privilege as a sports fan and a film-maker to have access to footage like that, a lot of which the world has never seen before, so that was kind of fun to kind of sift through buried treasure before the world gets to see it," Hehir told news.com.au.
MJ MOMENT THAT ROCKED HEHIR
Throughout the countless interviews, Hehir says one moment stood out above the rest.
Sitting across from arguably the greatest ever basketballer would be a daunting task for most, but in one moment Hehir knew he was onto a winner when Jordan did something he'd never seen before.
"I think I've seen just about every interview they've done and read every book about them, I really tried to uncover every single stone before we went into this thing to know what was out there," Hehir said.
"So any time there was a fresh reaction or story I'd never heard before, that's like gold to me because we know all the stories that there are to know.
"You know I had never heard Michael laugh as hard as he laughed when we brought up the 'cocaine circus'. I've never heard that laugh out of him, so it was jarring and I'm in my chair like, 'Whoa'.
"It was great for a couple of reasons. One is that it was just a moment of comedic relief — to see his laughter acknowledges that that was the case and that's an apt nickname for that team.
"It was also just a huge signal for me because that was very early in the first interview when that moment happened and it was a signal for me that he's going to be open about stuff like this that can be considered sensitive.
"The NBA is very sensitive about drugs and mentioning their drug days of the 80s, so if this guy who was the eternal face of the NBA and an owner, a current owner of an NBA team (Charlotte Hornets), was willing to go there then this is a great indication that he trusts me and we're going to tell a comprehensive story but we're not going to shy away from any topics.
Chicago Bulls Scottie Pippen, right, embraces an exhausted Michael Jordan. Photo AP
"It's moments like that where you step back and say, 'My God, how do I do this for a living?'"
HOW THE STORY EVOLVED
Each episode centres around one key figure that played a pivotal role in the Bulls' sixth title run. Hehir and his team used key points throughout the season as their markers for who to focus on and when to tell their stories.
"We looked at that season and went, 'Okay, when are the jumping out points where we can tell the backstories of these characters'," Hehir said.
"If you think of each episode as a month of the year, May gets two episodes (eight and nine) because there's a lot of playoff action then.
"What happened in October? They went to Paris and they took the place by storm because Michael's a huge star, so let's start telling his story.
"What happened in November? Scottie (Pippen) demanded a trade, let's tell his story. In December (episode three, Dennis) Rodman had to step up and play that number two role.
"Episode four, Scottie comes back and now (coach) Phil (Jackson) has to manage all these egos in that locker room, so it seems like a good time to tell his story.
"We really let the chronology of that season dictate where we were going to go back and forth in time."
KOBE'S EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO JORDAN
In what will be an emotional episode for basketball fans when episode five goes to air, the world will watch the late Kobe Bryant talk about his relationship with Jordan.
LA Lakers legend Bryant and his daughter Gianna tragically died when the helicopter they were in crashed in January this year
The two NBA icons have been linked since Bryant entered the league in the mid 1990s and he spoke to Hehir about just how much Jordan meant to him
"We interviewed Kobe last July and he was so heartfelt with how he revered Michael and respected him," Hehir told news.com.au.
"He said himself, 'Michael is like my older brother and I wouldn't be where I am without Michael'. He said, 'Without Michael Jordan there is no Kobe Bryant. Everything that I have and what you see from me, came from him'.
Ron Harper, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan and coach Phil Jackson on stage. Photo / AP
"It was a powerful scene to begin with, we shot the interview in July — some outlets said we interviewed him right before his death which isn't true.
"We shot the interview in July, but we finished editing the scene that you'll see in episode five a week before the helicopter accident.
"So it went from a powerful scene to exponentially more poignant with the tragic events that occurred."
With so much ground still left to cover, Hehir said one of the favourite episodes he and the team put together was episode seven.
"Episode seven I think we accomplished a lot of what I wanted to accomplish with this series which is showing that side of Michael that people haven't seen before that might be a little bit more raw and a more honest depiction of what it was like to play alongside Michael," Hehir said.
Jordan said before the documentary went to air he was worried about what people would think of him, suggesting he might come across as a "tyrant" who did anything to win.
It appears episode seven is the one that will show the true nature of just how ruthless he was in achieving his goal of becoming the greatest.
Of course, a pressing question whenever Jordan's name is mentioned centres around why he stepped away from the game following the Bulls' first three-peat in 1993. It's a question Hehir says fans will finally get an answer to.
"I think every question you have about why he left the game and why he came back will be answered," Hehir said.
