Bulls Insider Sam Smith Accuses Michael Jordan of Lying in Key Moment of Final Episode of 'The Last Dance'

While Jason Hehir's "The Last Dance" attempted to amass as many different perspectives on the Chicago Bulls from those around and against the team, the ESPN documentary was ultimately governed by the perspective of Michael Jordan. With that in mind, there are bound to be some disagreements here and now about what was authentically true and what was legend. Bulls insider Sam Smith, who wrote the seminal Bulls book "The Jordan Rules" in 1992, is the latest to take issue with a key MJ claim.

Speaking about the documentary series on 95.7 FM The Game sports radio, Smith pushed back against Jordan's claim that he, along with other core members of the 1997-98 Bulls, would have come back the next season for a run at a seventh championship if management hadn't already decided to rebuild. Smith called the insinuation "a complete and blatant lie by Michael." In the documentary, viewers were made to believe that the Bulls were dismantled by general manager Jerry Krause and owner Jerry Reinsdorf against Jordan's insistence that he would have signed another one-year contract.

Smith, a longtime Chicago Tribune writer, further stated that "[t]here were several things in the documentary that I saw, I would know, that [Jordan] made up or he lied about. They weren’t major things, but it was like when a TV movie comes on and they say, ‘this is based on a true story.’ That’s what that was. It was based on a true story."

Smith is not alone in having such issues with "The Last Dance," either. Vernon Maxwell, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant are among the leading voices seeking to correct aspects of the official record. Smith is just the latest to join the party.