TOWSON, Md. – The critically-acclaimed and highly anticipated "The Last Dance" documentary premiered last night to rave reviews from Towson men's basketball student-athletes Charles Thompson, Juwan Gray and Nicolas Timberlake.
 
The first two of 10 episodes aired on ESPN Sunday. The documentary showcases the depth of what fueled Michael Jordan while delivering the inside story of the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 90s through the lens of the 1997-98 season, the final championship season.
 
"I loved it," Thompson said. "This was definitely worth the wait and it makes quarantine much more enjoyable. Now people can see the reasons why Jordan is the greatest to ever touch a basketball. The part that I enjoyed the most was how his family spoke about him. His brothers pushed his competitive spirit and made it what it is now. I'm super pumped to watch the next eight parts, I just wish there was more."
 
With no live sports because of the COVID19 pandemic, this documentary aired at the perfect time. Originally scheduled in June during the NBA Finals, ESPN -- to the delight of many around the world -- moved the release date up nearly six weeks to satisfy the craving of unique content.
 
Thompson, Gray and Timberlake were happy for sure as it provided something to watch other than classic games. The riveting documentary featured music from Puff Daddy, Mase, Eric B & Rakim and L.L. Cool J.
 
In less than 24 hours there were more than 1.6 million tweets about The Last Dance, according to Twitter. The show was the No. 1 trend on Twitter throughout the night and at one point, 25 of the 30 trending topics were all related to the show making it the ultimate communal viewing experience.
 
While Thompson, Gray and Timberlake were born after Jordan's glory years with the Bulls, they learned quickly about the impact he had on the sport and his legacy.
 
"I think the documentary was dope," Gray said. "I was really young when I first learned about MJ. I don't remember the exact age but I remember my dad had the "Rare Air" book and I used to read it. I also got a chance to see one of MJs last games with the Wizards."
 
Growing up in Massachusetts, Timberlake was quickly made of Jordan's exploits especially during the 1986 playoffs when he scored 49 and 63 points in the first two games at the antiquated Boston Garden on the legendary parquet floor against one of the NBA's greatest teams ever, the Celtics.
 
"I knew at a young age that he toasted the Celtics in the playoffs," said Timberlake, who was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Sixth Man of the Year in March. "My dad has a different aspect of it than I do based on the idea that he lived through it and I didn't so I get to hear stories from him and his opinions on it which is pretty cool."
 
The series is filled with behind-the-scenes and never-seen-before footage of the team and the personalities involved, spliced with recent interviews with nearly all of the major characters involved as well as journalists, other basketball players and coaches, and celebrities like former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, a former Chicago resident.
 
"It's cool to be able to learn about history and actually get a chance to see how big he was not just in the NBA but in the world," Gray said. "I was watching it and thinking to myself what it would have been like to be able to experience all of that as if I was around during that time."
 
Over the next four Sundays, eight more episodes will air with two a week. The first two episodes were a tease and Thompson, Gray, Timberlake and many other basketball fans could have watched all 10 episodes at once.
 
"I was a huge fan of it," said Timberlake of the documentary. "This was definitely worth the wait. Anyone in college basketball or related to basketball always wants to see how the greatest of all time played the game and to hear different stories of him is always great.
 
"I feel like the fact that he was never satisfied stuck with me the most just based on the idea of how good he was and he was never was happy with anything he did. He always wanted more. I am very excited to watch the next eight episodes of the series."