Tucked away in the corner of East Cleveland’s Christ the King community room sat a small television set. The antenna was three or four times the size of the minuscule screen. For the life of me, I can’t remember if the picture was black-and-white or color. But that’s about the only detail that has escaped my mind in the 30-plus years since dozens of friends and family huddled around the TV during a First Communion celebration on Cleveland’s East Side.
When Craig Ehlo banked in a layup off the glass, the room erupted with excitement as the Cleveland Cavs took a 100-99 lead against the Chicago Bulls in the deciding game 5 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoffs.
Three seconds separated the Cavaliers from a victory that would earn them an Eastern Conference semi-final matchup with the New York Knicks.
As it turned out, three seconds separated the city of Cleveland from having their sports world pulled out from underneath them. Again.
Coming off a timeout, Jordan drained a double-clutched jump shot from the foul line over Craig Ehlo that silenced the sold-out crowd at Richfield Coliseum and sent a clear message of what was to come in the years ahead.
“The Shot”, as it has come to be known, will be just one of the many achievements highlighted in ESPN’s much anticipated “The Last Dance”, a ten-part documentary series focusing on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls.
The series debuts this Sunday at 9 P.M. on ESPN with the first two hour-long episodes, followed by two-episode runs on the next four Sundays.
The documentary includes interviews from a star-studded cast, ranging from the likes of Justin Timberlake, to Kobe Bryant, and former POTUS Barack Obama.
Originally scheduled to air in June, the release of the series was moved up to April "in response to fans asking for more programming while sports are on hold because of the Coronavirus", according to ESPN.
I grew up watching basketball (and sports in general) in the heart of the Jordan Era, and I come from a basketball family. So many would argue my age and my upbringing create an inescapable bias towards MJ. But I'll go to my grave proclaiming that he is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT). Period.
The only question left for me? Will "The Last Dance" be the GOAT documentary? Tune-in Sunday to find out.It was Sunday, May 7, 1989, and I was 8 years old.
