The Last Dance, ESPN’s documentary series about Michael Jordan’s final year with the Chicago Bulls, won the Emmy for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series at Saturday’s Creative Arts awards.
The normally staid category had a higher profile than most years, as it was filled with breakout series. The Last Dance — ESPN’s highest-rated original program ever — won the award over fellow nominees American Masters, Hillary, McMillion$ and Tiger King.
The 10-hour series chronicles Jordan’s basketball career, with a focus on the 1997-98 season, where he would win a sixth NBA championship in his final year with the Bulls. It featured a trove of previously unreleased film about that season, shot by the NBA but controlled by Jordan, who gave his OK to use the footage and also sat for extensive interviews.
Director and producer Jason Hehir noted in his pretaped acceptance speech that The Last Dance features interviews with 105 people, ranging from Bulls players to former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
The win for The Last Dance is ESPN’s first in the documentary or nonfiction series category and the sports giant’s sixth Primetime Emmy win overall.
