Michael Jordan should not have had such a big role in creating the docuseries, according to Ken Burns. Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Ken Burns criticizes 'The Last Dance' for involving Michael Jordan in production

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Apr 29, 2020 8:18 PM ET

Ken Burns' "Baseball" is unquestionably one of the most thorough sports and baseball documentaries ever produced, a gold standard that can't be duplicated even with the use of modern technology. One may assume, due to his history with such a project, that Burns would check out the ESPN docuseries "The Last Dance" about the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls team that completed the club's second championship three-peat of the decade.

Burns isn't watching on Sunday nights, but that isn't stopping him from criticizing the work.

Burns spoke with the Wall Street Journal about "The Last Dance" for a piece published on Wednesday:

Documentary film master Ken Burns has some sharp criticism for “The Last Dance”: https://t.co/k7sPQIeNhY pic.twitter.com/a1cLGPke2a
— Rachel Bachman (@Bachscore) April 29, 2020

"If you are there influencing the very fact of it getting made it means that certain aspects that you don't necessarily want in aren’t going to be in, period," Burns went on, via Chris Kornelis of the Wall Street Journal.

As Tom Gatto of Sporting News wrote, Burns isn't keen on Jump 23, Jordan's production company, partnering in the production of the docuseries that's been a massive hit among viewers.

Through four episodes, "The Last Dance" has portrayed Jordan as the team's best player but also as a star who wasn't always the friendliest teammate during practices and games. In episode No. 4, viewers learned about how head coach Phil Jackson demanded that Jordan trust his teammates, specifically guard John Paxson, ahead of the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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