Michael Jordan Didn't Fly To Vegas To Pick Up Dennis Rodman

The Last Dance director Jason Hehir clarified that Michael Jordan did not fly to Las Vegas to bring back Dennis Rodman from his brief vacation during the 1997–98 season. Hehir joined ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby Aftershow to explain how the story may have been misconstrued after Episodes 3 and 4 of the 10-part series aired on Sunday night.

Toward the end of the third episode, Jordan recounts that Rodman asked to take a 48-hour vacation in the middle of the season. Rodman stayed a bit longer than Jordan, coach Phil Jackson and the Bulls wanted. Rodman eventually rejoined the team after Jordan went to fetch him from his bed. But Rodman had returned from Vegas at that point and was in his Chicago apartment.

"He got him out of his apartment," Hehir said. "He lived across the street from the United Center. He got back. His vacation—part of it happened in Vegas of course. He got back and still felt that he was going to do a staycation for a little bit in Chicago so that's when Michael said, 'Alright, I'm going to walk across the street.' It was literally across the street. So he went with the athletic trainer. They banged on his door. (Laughs) Michael, I think he said off-camera, he garbed him by his nose ring and took him out. But yeah, that actually happened. I wish that we were better at identifying to people that Michael didn't get on a plane and go to Vegas to get him but he did grab him out of bed. Supposedly, Dennis had a flophouse apartment. There's no furniture. It was just like a couch and a mattress in one room and a TV."

Carmen Electra, who was briefly married to Rodman in 1998, told a story about Jordan coming to pick up Rodman.

"There was a knock on the door," Electra said. "It's Michael Jordan, and I hid. I didn't want him to see me like that. So I'm just hiding behind the couch with covers over me and he was like, 'Come on, we got to get to practice.'"

1997–98 would be Rodman's final season with the Chicago Bulls. He started 66 of 80 games and averaged 4.7 points, 15.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. 

Episode 5 and 6 will air on Sunday, May 3 from 9 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN 2.

Catch Sports Illustrated's reactions and biggest takeaways from Episodes 3 and 4 of 'The Last Dance.'