What reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo learned from Jordan's 'The Last Dance'

Netflix and ESPN released a 10-part documentary series about the career of Michael Jordan. "The Last Dance" is focused on his last year as a Chicago Bulls player in 1997-1998. Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo watched the series and learned that "chasing greatness is a life mission."

Four of the ten episodes have been shown to the public so far, and it only took the reigning MVP that long to realize that the "Greatest Basketball Player of All-Time," wasn't created overnight.

Jordan was drafted to play in the 1984-85 season. He didn't win a championship until the 1990-1991 season, six years later. In the third and fourth episodes of "The Last Dance," it showed how much Jordan had to improve as an individual, a team player, and a leader.

According to ESPN, Antetokounmpo learned that teams have to evolve and mature to achieve what the 90s Bulls have achieved. While plenty of teams won championships, a team that is able to dominate for an extended period is rare. Other than the 90s Bulls, there's the 50s Minneapolis Lakers, 60s Celtics, the 80s Los Angeles Lakers, and the 2010s Golden State Warriors. That's only a handful of teams in the last 70 years of professional basketball.

His biggest take away is the average age of championship teams, which is close to 30. Giannis is now 25, and has a couple of years to develop as a player. While he is a league leader in scoring and rebounding, he has room for improvement in personal defense and range shooting.

The MVP has long been inspired by Jordan and Pippen. When he played in Chicago back in Nov 2019, he was looking at the retired 23 and 33 jerseys and also wanted to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

The way he is going now, he has a shot. But if he wants to be "one of the greatest players," his current performance is not enough. At this point, he wouldn't even match up to Karl Malone, Shawn Kemp, or Tim Duncan at their peak. But Antetokounmpo is young, hungry, and knows he needs to do better.

The future of the NBA and the game of basketball is bright with young players like him.