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The Most Surprising Celebrity Cameos in the 10-Hour Michael Jordan Documentary Trailer

Michael Jordan is one of the few sports stars who became a legend before he even finished his career. He played his last season with the Chicago Bulls more than 20 years ago in 1998. Yet for fans, it sometimes seems as if he just walked off the court.  Although some would argue that players …

Michael Jordan is one of the few sports stars who became a legend before he even finished his career. He played his last season with the Chicago Bulls more than 20 years ago in 1998. Yet for fans, it sometimes seems as if he just walked off the court. 

Although some would argue that players like LeBron James or Steph Curry are just as good or better than Jordan, money talks. None of basketball’s greats have caught up to Jordan’s net worth. He is worth more than even James, and he makes more money by the day. His Nike royalties alone make him millions every year, even though he’s no longer playing ball.  

Jordan’s success in retirement is further proof of his legend status. Considering how influential Jordan was and still is, it’s high time fans got an in-depth documentary about basketball’s greatest player. 

ESPN is releasing a 10-episode documentary series on Jordan and his last season with the Bulls this year. The miniseries is called The Last Dance. Each episode is an hour long, meaning fans will get 10 full hours of inside info on Jordan. Recent trailers show that Jordan won’t be the only big name to appear in the series. 

Barack Obama will be in ‘The Last Dance’

President Obama awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan and Barack Obama | Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The trailer shows shots of Michael Jordan recorded in the ’90s intermingled with the faces of all the people who were interviewed for the new documentary. Some of the faces fly by so fast it’s hard to recognize who they are. One shot the producers lingered on? Barack Obama in an interview chair. 

If you think the former president is out of place in a documentary about Jordan, you’re not alone. Jordan played his last season long before Obama was elected president. 

Yes, Obama was a senator in Illinois, the home state of the Chicago Bulls. But that was after Jordan played his last season for them in 1998. So what does Obama have to do with anything?

It turns out that even though he wouldn’t hit the national political stage until 2005, Obama was an Illinois state senator in 1998, during Jordan’s last season with the Chicago Bulls. He’ll likely be able to shed light on how Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls impacted the city and state from a cultural perspective.

Justin Timberlake seems like another weird choice for a Michael Jordan documentary

This one is really baffling. Justin Timberlake was in the midst of his rise to fame with NSYNC during Jordan’s last season. Although The Backstreet Boys were already big, Timberlake and his group were still just starting out.

NSYNC was just getting big during Michael Jordan’s last season. Although it’s not clear what the singer will have to say about Jordan’s time with the Bulls, he does know the basketball superstar. In fact, the two are golf buddies. 

Both Jordan and Timberlake are avid golfers. In 2009, the two competed in the U.S. Open Challenge against one another. There were a few other non-celebrity players on the green with them, and apparently the two stars were relaxed and down to earth. Jordan and Timberlake enjoyed the experience. Although Jordan didn’t win, he did beat Timberlake. Timberlake is also a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, so there’s a clear basketball connection as well.

Carmen Electra will make an appearance 

Although some people were surprised to see a shot of Carmen Electra in the trailer, true fans know she absolutely should be included in anything about the Chicago Bulls. 

Electra was married to Dennis Rodman in the ’90s. Rodman may be known as an eccentric guy with a big personality now, but he was also a great ball player. He was an essential part of the legendary Bulls team that Michael Jordan made famous. 

Electra will definitely have a lot of great insight into Jordan and his last season with the Bulls. Although some of the producer’s picks of interviewees were surprising, they seem to have covered all their bases. Fans can expect a well-rounded view of Jordan in The Last Dance.