Jordan Rides the Bus (2010)

In the fall of 1993, in his prime and at the summit of the sports world, Michael Jordan walked away from pro basketball. After leading the Dream Team to an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and ... See full summary »

Director:

Ron Shelton

Stars:

Ed Bradley, David Falk, Terry Francona

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Ed Bradley	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Falk	...	Himself
Terry Francona	...	Himself
Phil Jackson	...	Himself
Michael Jordan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Steve Kerr	...	Himself
Jack McCallum	...	Himself
Jerry Reinsdorf	...	Himself
Sam Smith	...	Himself
Brian Williams	...	Himself (archive footage)
Steve Wulf	...	Himself

Storyline

In the fall of 1993, in his prime and at the summit of the sports world, Michael Jordan walked away from pro basketball. After leading the Dream Team to an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and taking the Bulls to their third consecutive NBA championship the following year, Jordan was jolted by the murder of his father. Was it the brutal loss of such an anchor in his life that caused the world's most famous athlete to rekindle a childhood ambition by playing baseball? Or some feeling that he had nothing left to prove or conquer in basketball? Or something deeper and perhaps not yet understood? Ron Shelton, a former minor leaguer who brought his experiences to life in the classic movie "Bull Durham," will revisit Jordan's short career in the minor leagues and explore the motivations that drove the world's most competitive athlete to play a new sport in the relative obscurity of Birmingham, Alabama, for a young manager named Terry Francona.

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Genres:

Sport

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (1970)

User Reviews

Well, He Gave It An Honest Shot

What sticks out in this 30-for-30 episode was the effort made by Michael Jordan to learn how to hit a baseball. This was no publicity stunt - switching careers from basketball to baseball - he really wanted to make it work, as this program shows us.

We see him taking batting practice morning, noon and night and riding the buses for his minor league team in Birmingham, Alabama, just like the rest of the guys. The difference, of course, he that he's one of the world's most famous athletes so cameras were everywhere.

Jordan also had the good fortune to have Terry Francona as his manager. Francona, of course, went on to fame as the skipper for the Phillies and then the World Champion Boston Red Sox of 2004 and 2007.

In all, another interesting episode and I wound up really impressed with Jordan's commitment, even if it didn't work out. Hey, hitting a baseball traveling at 95 mph ain't easy!