Michael Jordan will not receive a dime from ESPN’s 10-part documentary The Last Dance. According to Forbes, the NBA legend will donate all of his proceeds, which will be between $3 million to $4 million, to charity.
The first two episodes to the documentary aired this past Sunday (April 19) and pulled in an average of 6.1 million viewers, making The Last Dance the most-viewed documentary on ESPN ever.
Jordan initially had reservations when it came to airing the doc, which highlights his early life, emergence to NBA superstardom and final season with the Chicago Bulls. He felt like viewers would think that he is a “horrible guy.” Director Jason Hehir opened up to The Athletic about how the former Bulls player felt about the docuseries.
“When people see this footage I’m not sure they’re going to be able to understand why I was so intense, why I did the things I did, why I acted the way I acted, and why I said the things I said,” Hehir recalls Jordan telling him.
“When you see the footage of [me riding with Scott Burrell], you’re going to think that I’m a horrible guy,” Hehir continued, as he revealed more of what Jordan told him.
“But you have to realize that the reason why I was treating him like that is because I needed him to be tough in the playoffs and we’re facing the Indiana’s and Miami’s and New York’s in the Eastern Conference,” he continued. “He needed to be tough and I needed to know that I could count on him. And those are the kind of things where people see me acting the way I acted in practice, they’re not going to understand it.”
Episodes three and four of The Last Dance will air Sunday, April 26 beginning at 9 pm ET on ESPN.