The ESPN docu-series “The Last Dance” has provided a fantastic look back at the 1980s version of Michael Jordan, with episodes 3 and 4 last Sunday documenting the struggles his Bulls had getting past the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The series reminded me of the one day I got to see Jordan up close. It was June 15, 1989, about two weeks removed from the Bulls’ loss to the Bad Boys in a brutal Eastern Conference Finals series, and just a few weeks before Phil Jackson would replace Doug Collins as the Bulls’ coach.
Jordan, who finished second that season in the MVP voting to Magic Johnson, was making promotional appearances in Birmingham, where I was an intern for the now-defunct Post-Herald.