Why Chicago Bulls NBA legend Luc Longley is glad Netflix left him out of ‘The Last Dance’ doco

It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since Luc Longley won his third consecutive championship with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, and the towering Western Australian has never been more popular.

The first Australian to be called up to a US NBA team was sensationally left out of the Netflix hit The Last Dance, which chronicled the all-conquering team’s success – and Longley now sees it as a good thing.

Australian fans who expected an insight into Jordan’s relationship with Longley, a key member of the Bulls’ championship-winning teams in 1996, 1997 and 1998, were deeply disappointed when the show was released in 2020.

The seven-foot center of Fremantle’s notable absence from the show sparked a local backlash and a two-part ABC documentary on Longley that has now been seen by millions of viewers.

Longley, whose iconic Chicago Bulls No. 13 jersey is being reissued this week by Mitchell and Ness, is proud of the renewed interest in his career.

“This didn’t happen – they were all Jordan, [Scott] Pipe and [Dennis] Rodman [jerseys]— there were Longley jerseys, but never a display or a shop window like this one,” Longley told the Herald from launch on Saturday.

“I wish my kids could see this.

“When we were in the thick of it, it was just part of the landscape of being a bull. I didn’t take it for granted, but for whatever reason I didn’t feel the same level of pride in it that I do now.

“Thanks for letting me out of the Netflix doco because this wouldn’t have happened if they put me in.”

“There was a whole discussion around it, then the Australian story sparked interest and suddenly we have Longley jerseys – it’s wild how the world turns, isn’t it?”

Longley says he’s been held back by NBA fans more than ever since the Netflix saga.

“So much more — my experience as a pedestrian is completely different because I’m going to get my bags off the carousel or whatever and they’re selfies with people because they’ve seen me with my beard and the extra pounds,” Longley said.

Longley is now thankful that the hit Netflix series The Last Dance left him out as it sparked a new interest in his career

Longley’s iconic Chicago Bulls No. 13 jersey is being reissued this week by Mitchell and Ness

‘I don’t know what you call it. A midlife renaissance? It’s just cool in those days and my contribution is remembered.’

Jordan has since stated that Longley should have been featured in the critically acclaimed documentary.

The Last Dance Producers previously explained that it was too expensive to send a crew to Longley’s home on the south coast of Western Australia to interview him.

Despite this, Longley said he had a theory as to why he didn’t play heavier in the critically acclaimed production.

“The self-deprecating Australian in me thinks it’s because I’m not that exciting,” he said. “I played a big role, but it wasn’t that sexy.

“There were so many beautiful, bright, shining stars there to focus on, it makes sense to me that that story wasn’t about me.”

Today, 54-year-old Longley is a special assistant to the Sydney Kings in Australia’s NBL and also assists Australia’s national team, the Boomers.

Outside of basketball, he lives with his wife on an estate 400 kilometers south of Perth in Denmark. Both have two children from previous marriages.