“The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir himself has just confirmed that former Chicago Bulls big man Luc Longley will not be part of the famed ESPN docuseries based on Michael Jordan and the final year of their dynasty.
According to Hehir, it was budgetary constraints that led to Longley being omitted as part of the player contributors for the show.
“It was not due to our unwillingness to find him, or his unwillingness to participate, it strictly was a budgetary concern,” Hehir told ABC News Breakfast, via Fox Sports.
“So I regret for our Australian audience, that Luc doesn't sit down for an interview in this but his face and his presence certainly were felt.”
Longley joined the Bulls in 1993 and was a huge part of the second three-peat as the team's starting big man, holding the fort for Jordan and company. As Hehir implied above, the 7-foot-2 center is currently residing in his native of Australia, and the film crew did not have enough of a budget to fly all the way across the globe for an interview with Longley. Obviously, Hehir did not think doing a remote video interview was an option, as it would have killed the vibe of the entire docu-series.
This explains why Bill Wennington, who served as Longley's backup, has been featured heavily in the series, as well as in recent promotional stories. Nonetheless, Longley played a bigger role on the team, and he probably had more valuable inputs about Michael Jordan and the rest of the Bulls, given his stature.
At the end of the day, though, “The Last Dance” has still been captivating — with or without Longley — so who are we to complain, right?
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