Danny DeVito Wanted To Produce A Documentary On Michael Jordan

The highly-anticipated first two episodes of The Last Dance premiered on ESPN Sunday evening, and there's certainly no shortage in entertainment value.

This series, produced by Michael Tollin, documents Michael Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls in 1997-98. Then-head coach Phil Jackson warned the team that it would be "the last dance" since he was leaving after the season, hence the title.

Though Jordan is a key focal point on The Last Dance, the miniseries is also focusing on the off-the-court drama that led to the breakup of the historic dynasty that won six championships over an eight-year span.

After the Bulls won their sixth championship, Jordan retired for a second time, and Jackson left due to an ongoing feud with general manager Jerry Krause. Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen also left after the season, and with that, the dynasty was over.

As reported by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, The Last Dance will feature plenty of footage that was put together by NBA Entertainment, where current league commissioner Adam Silver previously worked.

In exchange for Jordan allowing the film access during the 1997-98 season, Silver and company agreed that they wouldn't use any of the footage against his permission.

Before Tollin was able to convince Jordan to allow the release of the footage during a 2016 meeting, however, several other prominent producers failed to accomplish that goal. One of the producers who tried to get the documentary going was It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Danny Devito, according to Shelburne's report:

"Every few years a producer would come along, pitching himself as the right person to make the documentary. Frank Marshall, Spike Lee, even actor Danny DeVito gave it a whirl."

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Why weren't Marshall, Lee or DeVito able to reach a deal with the six-time NBA Champion? Per Shelburne, Curtis Polk - a business partner of Jordan's - claimed that those three men never had an in-person meeting with the NBA icon.

And so, the wait for this hidden footage to get released continued, until Tollin met with Jordan and impressed him with his outlines for each episode. Thanks to Tollin, millions of basketball fans will now see what happened behind the scenes.

ESPN will broadcast the final eight episodes of the The Last Dance (available on Netflix in Canada) on the following days: Apr. 26, May 3, May 10 and May 17.

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