5 things we learned from Episodes 3 and 4 of ‘The Last Dance’

4. Jordan calling his shot before “The Shot”

Some of sports’ greatest legends are so memorable not just because they excelled on the court, but because they knew they would succeed before some of their most memorable moments.

Babe Ruth pointing to centerfield with his bat, Larry Bird asking who was coming in second at the NBA’s first 3-Point Contest, guys predicting a championship and then following through on that promise — these are the kinds of things that prove an otherworldly level of talent, confidence and competitive mindset to cement living legends.

Nobody was better at delivering on those kinds of promises than Michael Jordan, as legendary Bulls beat writer Sam Smith recounts in Episode 3. In the 1989 NBA Playoffs, Jordan missed a critical free throw late in regulation in Game 4, leading to an overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The series shifted back to Cleveland for the decisive Game 5, and most people had completely written off the underdog Bulls at that point. Everyone except Jordan, that is:

"“The game’s about to start and there was two other beat writers: the beat writer from the Sun-Times, Lacy Banks, and Kent McDill from the Herald and me. And Lacy’s picked Cavs to sweep in three. Kent’s picked the Cavs to win in four and I’ve picked the Cavs to win in five. “So Michael — the game’s just about to start — and Michael walks over to Lacy and says, ‘We took care of you,’ then he looks at Kent and says, ‘We took care of you,’ and he looks at me and says, ‘We take care of you today.'”"

And sure enough, despite trailing by one twice the game’s final 20 seconds, Jordan delivered the go-ahead bucket both times to make his prophetic words come true.