MJ'S NEXT DANCE

MICHAEL JORDAN’S LEGACY, ALONG WITH JUST ABOUT ALL HIS CARDS, ARE SOARING TO UNPRECEDENTED HEIGHTS.

- DAVID LEE

“MY MENTALITY WAS TO GO OUT THERE AND WIN, AT ANY COST.”

If there was a theme to Michael Jordan’s career, it would be that impactful line from ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary that took an unprecedented deep dive into the Chicago Bulls’ championships through the 1990s. The show vaulted Jordan’s legacy to a new level, and magnified the importance and impact he made on sports culture and basketball worldwide.

“The Last Dance” debuted last spring at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was just one part of a perfect storm of timing, attention and cultural maturity. The popularity of the sports card hobby, especially basketball, was already on the rise. People stuck at home pulled out their old collections to realize those late 1980s and ’90s Jordan cards actually have significant value. Adults today who collected as kids rekindled their love for the hobby. Government stimulus checks didn’t hurt, either. Plus, people were sports starved.

The Michael Jordan-LeBron James debate reheated after the Lakers won the NBA Championship last season, giving LeBron James his fourth ring. It only helped to further embolden Jordan fans who unequivocally claim that His Airness is the greatest of all time.