The Last Dance has given us so much over the past three weeks that it’s hard to keep track of all its many joys and wonders. For those of us who grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, it’s both a trip down memory lane and revealing look behind the scenes of one of the most compelling sports figures of all-time.
Sure, the petty beefs and bitter rivalries that are still simmering all these years later are endlessly entertaining, but there’s also all sorts of random historical ephemera that adds so much texture to it all. Take, for example, the stunning curly-mulleted security guard that has popped up a few times in the archival footage from inside the Bulls locker room.
The man in question, John Michael Wozniak, has now become a viral sensation after episode six, after an incredible scene in which he took Jordan’s money in a game of quarters, then hit him with the shoulder shrug.
This security dude hit Michael Jordan with the Jordan shrug after winning at quarters! #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/yxFs2kcVnm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 4, 2020
Sadly, Wozniak died earlier this year after a battle with colon cancer, but his son Nicholi says his father would’ve loved all the attention its garnered him.
Via Matt Fortuna of The Athletic:
The 35-year-old Nicholi never stopped giving his old man grief for his eccentric hairstyle. If father’s responses to son over the years were any indication, then John had a good laugh Sunday night up in heaven.
“Dad, why don’t you cut your hair and wear it like Pat Riley? Your hair is like 20 years old,” Nicholi recalled of his pleas. “I was a kid in grammar school, and he was like, ‘Nick, it’s my mark. It’s my brand. It’s my emblem. It’s like a lion’s mane.’ And I was like, Dad, you’re gonna get roasted one day. And I swear to God if he knew (about Sunday) he would be doing the same thing to me, ‘I told you!’ It was his mark. Everybody is playing into exactly what he wanted.”
Wozniak was a long-time narcotics officer in Chicago who quickly endeared himself to Jordan after once accidentally busting out the back window of his SUV while parking it at Chicago Stadium. He worked on Jordan’s security detail for more than 20 years after that.
