The best teams in any sport always have a target on their back. Whether it was the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s or the Warriors of the 2010s, the rest of the NBA’s Davids always were looking to knock off the Goliath of the league.
ESPN’s “The Last Dance” highlighted the immense spotlight that was on those Bulls teams during Michael Jordan’s final years in Chicago, something that Warriors coach Steve Kerr experienced both as a teammate of his and a coach of Golden State’s dynastic blitz through the last decade.
"I'm ready for getting out of this life. You know when you get to that point. I'm there."
Mike knew it was time to retire in 1998 #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/GnUMgex6XQ
— ESPN (@espn) May 4, 2020
“This is not one of those lifestyles that you envy,” Jordan told the documentary crew. “Where you’re confined to this room. I’m ready for getting out of this life.”
Kerr spoke to the difficulty of this limelight that comes with being the class of the NBA, when he was asked about the Warriors potentially doing a similar documentary series to “The Last Dance.”
“It’s very intrusive,” Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Logan Murdock and Kerith Burke on the “Runnin’ Plays” podcast. “Difficult to function with something like that in place.”
[RUNNIN' PLAYS PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]
Jordan talked after the 1993 Finals, a season where he faced undying scrutiny related to his off-the-court habits, about how he viewed that attention.
“My fame is, it was good in the beginning,” Jordan said. “Anytime people talking about you in a positive way, yeah, it's great to hear those comments. But you know. now that you're on a pedestal, it's not just the positive talking that you're hearing. You hear some points and some people taking shots at you and that really changes the whole idea of being out there for people to see you.”
As stressful as that fame was for those Bulls teams, Kerr explains that it’s even harder now for athletes to escape scrutiny from the media and outside influences.
"I think there was almost a mystical quality to a famous team or athlete like Michael back then," Kerr said during an interview with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN's "SportsCenter." "Nothing is left to the imagination now. Back then, you could get away from it as an athlete, as a player, as anyone in the public eye. When the camera wasn't on you, you could escape it.
"But today, with social media, with people seeing every single aspect of your life, you look at Steph Curry as a great example of someone whose every movement is analyzed and judged and criticized, so I think back then, there was a little more freedom that came with fame. You could escape it. And now it just seems like it's impossible to do so."
[RELATED: Why Warriors have best potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trade offer]
You could see this frustration play out with Kevin Durant during that final season with the Warriors, as he consistently traded barbs with local media who questioned whether he was planning to come back to the Warriors.
With every person in the world now essentially carrying a video camera with a high-speed connection to the internet at all times, any semblance of privacy for the rich and famous has all but vanished. One misstep in the public eye, and the entire world knows about it within hours.
Jordan and his teammates were treated like rock stars everywhere they went around the country, but they couldn’t be vilified by millions of people they’ve never met through social media on a daily basis.
As Kerr said, athletes and celebrities could escape the spotlight and media fodder back then. Nowadays, it’s nearly impossible.
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