Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, I thought I understood the impact of Michael Jordan on the city, on the game of basketball and on the world. I was born in 1999, eleven months after the Bulls reached the promised land for the final time. I never saw MJ play with “BULLS” across his chest except for in short clips. I’ve never seen Phil Jackson coach any team but the Lakers.

Without living through the Jordan era, there’s no possible manner to encapsulate the history of the 90s Bulls. It’s not difficult to find videos on YouTube of the insane dunks, lobs and game-winning jumpers hit by Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Paxson and Kerr. But what we’ve witnessed in ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary is the ferocious defense and selflessness of an offense led by the greatest basketball player to walk the earth.

Unless you were there, whether that meant in the standing room only sections of old Chicago Stadium or a freshly built United Center, or if you watched live on television from the basement of your house, you can’t truly appreciate the greatness and prestige of Michael Jordan.

The highlight reels scattered across the internet hesitate to show the beatdowns suffered at the hands of the Pistons and the elbows thrown by Bill Laimbeer. They never show Isiah Thomas and company walking off without acknowledging the presence of greatness on the court. Sure, we’ve heard retellings of the era from our parents, but without our own two eyes to bear witness, they’re just fairytales.

The Last Dance’s Lasting Impact

Without an understanding of the process, the rise of Phil Jackson, the Dennis Rodman era in Detroit and the blossoming of Scottie Pippen, it’s all lost. The world didn’t go to sleep one night and wake up to the 90s Bulls. It was built upon from the day Michael Jordan went third overall to a failing franchise in Chicago.

That’s the thing: I thought I knew Michael Jordan. I thought I knew the 1990 Chicago Bulls and I thought I understood the impact of that team and that player on the game. As it turns out, I didn’t even know the game.

If you haven’t started The Last Dance on ESPN, it’s the best thing you can do right now. Four episodes through, six more to go, if you can’t appreciate this documentary, you don’t appreciate the real competition of sports. So sit back, relax and let your dad tell you about those standing-room-only tickets.