The Last Dance makes its highly anticipated two-episode premiere Sunday, April 19 on ESPN. The 10-episode docuseries focuses on the the Chicago Bulls’ sixth championship run in the 1997-1998 season, the final season of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson together in Chicago. It lives up to the hype according to Awful Announcing’s Ben Koo, and will get plenty of buzz over the next month.
So, the following programming decision by NBC Sports Chicago makes a ton of sense, especially with no sports happening (and stay-at-home orders making it difficult to produce shows), and sports networks needing ways to be creative for content during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NBC Sports Chicago announced on Friday that the network will show every 1998 Bulls playoff game, beginning April 20 and concluding May 15.
It’s important to note that the press release says “game replays will only be made available to viewers within NBC Sports Chicago’s designated viewing territory,” so it appears viewers outside of the Chicago area will be blacked out.
Here’s a look at the full schedule, via NBC Sports Chicago:
Monday, April 20
Round 1-Game 1: New Jersey at Bulls – 7:00 PM (From 4/24/98 — 96-93 Bulls OT win; strong 4th quarter effort by Nets sends Gm 1 to OT; Jordan gets the ’98 championship run in motion with 39 points)
Round 1-Game 2: New Jersey at Bulls – 9:30 PM (From 4/26/98 – 96-91 Bulls win; Solid efforts by MJ-35 points, Kukoc-19 pts and Pippen-17 pts sends series to NJ)
Tuesday, April 21
Round 1-Game 3: Bulls at New Jersey (From 4/29/98 — 116-101 Bulls win; Jordan cruises with 38 pts in series sweep, but Scott Burrell’s impressive 23 pts off-the-bench steals the headlines)
Wednesday, April 22
Eastern Conf Semifinals-Game 1: Charlotte at Bulls (From 5/3/98 — 83-70 Bulls win; Jordan & Pippen combine for 60 of the team’s 83 total points)
Thursday, April 23
Eastern Conf Semifinals-Game 2: Charlotte at Bulls (From 5/6/98 — 76-78 Bulls loss; a bad night at UC as the Bulls shoot a dismal 37% from the field for their first playoff loss)
Friday, April 24
Eastern Conf Semifinals-Game 3: Bulls at Charlotte (From 5/8/98 — 103-89 Bulls win; MJ gets team back on track with 27 pts, Rodman with 17 boards)
Monday, April 27
Eastern Conf Semifinals-Game 4: Bulls at Charlotte (From 5/10/98 — 94-80 Bulls win; Jordan and Rodman continue to have a good time in Charlotte w/31 pts and 17 rebounds respectively)
Tuesday, April 28
Eastern Conf Semifinals-Game 5: Charlotte at Bulls (From 5/13/98 — 93-84 Bulls win; Jordan’s 33 pt. effort is only eclipsed by Rodman’s 21 boards, nine on the offensive end, in Round 2 series clincher)
Wednesday, April 29
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 1: Indiana at Bulls (From 5/17/98 — 85-79 Bulls win; Jordan paces Bulls to Gm 1 victory w/31 points and 5 steals)
Thursday, April 30
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 2: Indiana at Bulls (From 5/19/98 — 104-98 Bulls win; MJ helps Bulls take 2-0 Conf Finals lead and simply dominates with 41 points, 5 assists and 4 steals)
Friday, May 1
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 3: Bulls at Indiana (From 5/23/98 — 105-107 Bulls loss; MJ’s 30-point effort wasn’t enough as Reggie Miller’s 28 pts and strong bench play earn Pacers a must win)
Monday, May 4
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 4: Bulls at Indiana (From 5/25/98 — 94-96 Bulls loss; Pacers outscore the Bulls 27-17 in 4th quarter to tie series at 2-2; Jordan w/28 pts)
Tuesday, May 5
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 5: Indiana at Bulls (From 5/27/98 — 106-87 Bulls win; Jordan-29 pts, Pippen-20 pts and Kukoc-19 pts lead Bulls to pivotal Gm 5 victory)
Wednesday, May 6
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 6: Bulls at Indiana (From 5/29/98 — 89-92 Bulls loss; a solid 35-point effort from MJ wasn’t enough as Rik Smits-25 pts and Pacers force a Game 7)
Thursday, May 7
Eastern Conf Finals-Game 7: Indiana at Bulls (From 5/31/98 — 88-83 Bulls win; Jordan’s outstanding 28-points/9 rebounds/8 assists performance was supported by Kukoc’s 21-points, inc. three clutch 3-pointers, sending Bulls back to NBA Finals)
Friday, May 8
NBA Finals-Game 1: Bulls at Utah (From 6/3/98 — 85-88 Bulls OT loss; The power duos of Jordan-Pippen vs. Malone-Stockton proved to be in Utah’s favor in this Gm 1 OT shocker)
Monday, May 11
NBA Finals-Game 2: Bulls at Utah (From 6/5/98 — 93-88 Bulls win; MJ gets the Bulls in the Finals win column with a standout 37-point performance)
Tuesday, May 12
NBA Finals-Game 3: Utah at Bulls (From 6/7/98 — 96-54 Bulls win; a poor 30% FG shooting output by the Jazz enable Bulls and Jordan-24 pts to take series lead)
Wednesday, May 13
NBA Finals-Game 4: Utah at Bulls (From 6/10/98 — 86-82 Bulls win; Jordan & Pippen were unstoppable, combining for 62 points, to put Bulls on brink of yet another NBA title)
Thursday, May 14
NBA Finals-Game 5: Utah at Bulls (From 6/12/98 — 81-83 Bulls loss; Kukoc’s team-leading 30 points, coupled with MJ’s 28 pts, weren’t enough as Malone-39 pts and Jazz play spoilers to send series back to Utah)
Friday, May 15
NBA Finals-Game 6: Bulls at Utah (From 6/14/98 — 87-86 Bulls win; Jordan cements his legacy with “The Last Shot” in an epic 45-point performance earning him his sixth Finals MVP Award and the Bulls their sixth NBA Championship)
Photo Credit: Getty
Related: (Quiz) How well do you remember the Chicago Bulls dynasty?