It’s also a response to the rule changes of the early 2000s that gave defenses the ability to run zones and play farther off of offensive players than ever before. The rise of the 3 is about more than offensive efficiency. (Imagining how Kerr, the Warriors coach, would strategize against Kerr, the Bulls player, is one of the more mind-bending aspects of these made-up scenarios.) If Chicago responded by bringing shooters like Steve Kerr and Toni Kukoc off the bench, Golden State would spread the floor to prevent the Bulls from helping them out and then put them in pick-and-rolls against Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. The 2017-18 Warriors would pack the paint, send multiple defenders at Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and dare players like Ron Harper (28.9 percent from 3 on 1.8 attempts per game) and Dennis Rodman (23.1 percent on 0.4 attempts) to beat them from the perimeter. That difference would be a huge problem for the Bulls in any hypothetical matchup with a modern champion. In the most recent Finals, the Warriors and Raptors shot 64 in their final clash. In the 1998 Finals, Jordan’s last championship season, the Bulls and Jazz shot 20 total 3s in the decisive game. Now it’s a go-to for almost every perimeter player and the best bigs, with the top teams in the league deploying it as their weapon of choice. The shot used to be such a novelty that Jordan famously shrugged his shoulders after hitting six in one half in the 1992 NBA Finals. Jordan was never a prolific 3-point shooter, averaging just 1.7 attempts per game over his career and shooting a pedestrian 32.7 percent.

The most obvious change to basketball in the past 20 years has been the rise of the 3-point shot.

So how would MJ, the greatest player the game had ever seen up until his era, hold up against today’s competition? It’s the one glaring hole in a project that seems to have been designed to solidify his legacy. MJ is just as compelling a figure as he was in 1998, but the documentary didn’t really address the dramatic differences between the way the game was played during his prime and the way it’s played now. The most outdated aspect of The Last Dance wasn’t Michael Jordan’s wardrobe-it was the basketball games.

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