‘Last Dance’ Episode 8 recap: Jordan punched Steve Kerr right in the eye

Photo: Robert Sullivan, AFP/Getty Images

CHICAGO, UNITED STATES: Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan (L) congratulates teammate Steve Kerr after Kerr’s last-second basket against the Utah Jazz in game six of the 1997 NBA Finals at the United Center in Chicago, IL. The Bulls captured the NBA ch less CHICAGO, UNITED STATES: Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan (L) congratulates teammate Steve Kerr after Kerr’s last-second basket against the Utah Jazz in game six of the 1997 NBA Finals at the United Center … more Photo: Robert Sullivan, AFP/Getty Images

‘Last Dance’ Episode 8 recap: Jordan punched Steve Kerr right in the eye

Episodes 7 and 8 of “The Last Dance” function in tandem: An exhausted Michael Jordan retires in the former, only to return with renewed vigor and ferocity in the latter. Perhaps anticipating some viewers might be suffering from idol-worship fatigue, the documentary told the story of the record-setting 72-win 1995-96 Chicago Bulls through the dark, demanding lens of life as one of Jordan’s teammates.

Jordan entered the season still smarting from his loss to the Orlando Magic in the 1995 playoffs. That series, which unfolded a few months after his midseason return from minor league baseball, was his first playoff defeat since the 1990 Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons. To add insult, Orlando’s Nick Anderson told reporters that “Number 45 is not Number 23” – a reference to Jordan’s brief post-retirement jersey number switch.

Jordan spent the summer of 1995 on the set of “Space Jam” in Los Angeles, where the 32-year-old hosted star-studded pickup games and worked his body back into peak basketball shape. Once training camp rolled around, Jordan was 27 months removed from his most recent title celebration, and Scottie Pippen was the only other Bulls player remaining from the three-peat. Those conditions compelled Jordan to treat his new teammates like first-year cadets.

“I wanted them to understand what it felt like to be in the trenches,” he explained. “If you don’t understand, then you’re not going to respond when the war starts. Steve [Kerr] and Luc [Longley], all those guys, they come in riding high on the three championships and they had no f—ing thing to do with it. We were s— when I got [to the Bulls in 1984]. We elevated to be a championship-quality team. There were certain standards we had to live by. You don’t come pussyfooting around, joking and kidding around. You have to come in ready to play.”

Jordan conveyed that message with tenacious play throughout camp, but he lost control of his emotions during one practice session. Frustrated by Coach Phil Jackson’s “ticky tack” calls, Jordan delivered a hard foul on the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Kerr to send a message. Kerr responded by hitting Jordan in the chest, prompting one of the most infamous episodes of Jordan’s career.

“I haul off and hit him right in the f—ing eye,” Jordan said. “Phil throws me out of practice. I’m in the shower and I’m like, ‘I just beat up the littlest guy on the f—ing court.’ I felt about this small.”

Jordan briefly stopped to hold his finger and his thumb about an inch apart.

“I called Steve,” he continued. “I apologized: ‘Look, man, it had nothing to do with you. I feel bad.’ “

Kerr’s take on the punch was gracious. The current Golden State Warriors coach might have been a scrawny shooting specialist, but he was 30 and an established pro at the time who knew he couldn’t back down from Jordan’s challenge.

“The best thing I ever did [was] stand up for myself with him,” Kerr said. “He tested everyone he played with. From that point on, our relationship and trust dramatically improved. We got that out of the way. We’re going to war together. That season has to be the best team I’ve ever been a part of.”

In the end, Jordan said Kerr “earned my respect [because] he wasn’t willing to back down and be a pawn in this whole process.” Kerr also received an apology, something Jordan never offered Isiah Thomas, Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause or any of his other adversaries in the documentary.

Perhaps most importantly, Kerr was entrusted with one of the most important passes of Jordan’s career. During the closing seconds of Game 6 of the 1997 Finals, Jordan drew two Utah Jazz defenders and kicked the ball out to Kerr for a title-clinching jumper. Jordan was the first player to high-five him after the shot swished through.

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Best quote

“This dude was like a vampire.” – Reggie Miller

Although not explicitly mentioned in the documentary, the parallels between Jordan’s 1990 and 1995 summers were striking. In 1990, he sought to add muscle to deal with the Pistons’ bruising style. In 1995, he needed to undo his baseball workout routines and improve his upper-body strength. According to his trainers, both offseasons began the day after Chicago’s painful eliminations.

Jordan looked like himself at times during his abbreviated 1994-95 season, sinking a buzzer-beater against the Atlanta Hawks and hanging 55 points on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. But in the playoffs against the Magic, he committed crucial turnovers in late-game situations. His jersey number switch “wasn’t natural,” he said, so he reversed course mid-series “to go back to the feeling I had with 23.” It didn’t work, in part because his trainer estimated that he was only at 80% fitness.

During “Space Jam” filming, Jordan was on set from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a two-hour midday break for weightlifting and nightly games of five-on-five pickup. Warner Bros. constructed the “Jordan Dome” for its star, complete with a full basketball court and weight room. Miller, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin and Dennis Rodman were among the NBA players who took part in the famous pickup scene.

While Miller and others marveled at Jordan’s round-the-clock habits, Jordan was updating his scouting reports on the competition and getting his body back to 100%. The following season, Jordan played all 82 games as he led the league in scoring, shot attempts, usage rate and win shares while playing more minutes than all but 11 players.

Jordan, Kerr said, entered “in incredible shape, but he was also frothing at the mouth. That’s how angry he was from losing. He talked a lot of s—.”

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Funniest moment

The Bulls were untouchable throughout the season, feasting on competition that was watered down by expansion and blowing teams off the court with a new core of Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. After rolling off 72 wins in the regular season, they went 11-1 in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Jordan, always searching for a slight, found one when Seattle SuperSonics Coach George Karl did not come over to say hello when they happened to dine at the same restaurant before the Finals.

“He walked right past me,” Jordan recalled, still annoyed 24 years later. “Oh really? That’s how you’re going to play it? It’s a crock of s—. We [both] went to [North] Carolina. We know Dean Smith. I see him in the summer. We play golf. That’s all I needed. For him to do that. It became personal.”

The Bulls jumped to a 3-0 series lead, with Seattle guard Gary Payton admitting that “Mike ripped a hole in our a–.” The SuperSonics pulled back two wins to save face, and Payton took credit for swinging the momentum with his tireless, fearless and physical approach to defending Jordan. If Karl had only let him defend Jordan earlier in the series, Payton argued, perhaps things would have played out differently.

When Jordan was shown video of Payton pumping himself up and pondering the alternate history, his eyes bugged out of his head.

“The Glove? I had no problem with the Glove,” Jordan said, dismissing Payton, his popular nickname and the SuperSonics’ chances in the same breath. “I had no problem with Gary Payton.”

The Bulls won in six games, and Jordan had a relatively modest 22 points on 5-for-19 shooting in the closeout win.

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Most revealing scene

The 1991 and 1996 title seasons began the same way – with a long offseason devoted to training – and ended the same way.

In 1991, Jordan celebrated his first title by clutching the Larry O’Brien Trophy and crying openly with his father by his side in the locker room. Five years later, Jordan’s Bulls clinched their fourth title on Father’s Day. Jordan, who had requested the game ball, retreated to an empty locker room, where he lay on the floor with his chest heaving as he sobbed uncontrollably.

“I can’t even put it into words what Father’s Day means to me,” Jordan said in an archived postgame interview. “I know he’s watching. This is for daddy.”