A couple years after the dipsomaniacal screenwriter played by Nic Cage could not bring himself to leave Las Vegas, Dennis Rodman was going through the same thing. With the reluctant blessing of coach Phil Jackson, Rodman had decamped to Vegas in mid-January of 1998 while his Bulls teammates were doing other things. Like, you know, playing basketball.
So did the creative forces behind The Last Dance fashion much of the central tension for Sunday night’s two-episode doubleheader. Jackson had given Rodman a 48-hour freedom window, and away ticks the hours, a cinematic version of the 24-second clock.