As NBA fans around the country were preparing for pivotal games on Christmas day, ESPN was turning heads with a trailer for a new documentary. The media giant revealed that the story of Michael Jordan was going to air in June. Fans of the Chicago Bulls were excited, but they were also confused when Justin Timberlake appeared in the trailer to provide his thoughts on the Hall of Famer.
IT’S HAPPENING 🍿#TheLastDance | Coming in June pic.twitter.com/YSySzSNZIs
— ESPN (@espn) December 24, 2019
As the brief video showed, several important figures were set to be interviewed for this new documentary. Some of the names were former teammates, such as Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen, while others were just attached to the league. For example, Charles Barkley and Steve Kerr were both shown along with NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“[What the f—] is Justin Timberlake doing in this doc,” one user wrote on Twitter after watching the video. Having a Chicago native in Barack Obama was expected due to his love of the Bulls, but Timberlake was just confusing to many.
“Justin Timberlake? Wasn’t he like 15 when this happened?” another user added to the conversation. There was no shortage of users confused by Timberlake being included in this documentary due to his age, as well as his status as an actor and musician.
The answer, as it turns out, is actually fairly straightforward. The performer in Timberlake is actually a massive basketball fan. He is also a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies. He can occasionally be seen sitting courtside or in the luxury box. Although Timberlake is also a constant figure sitting courtside at Los Angeles Lakers games.
Timberlake is actually from Memphis, and he is quite fond of the hometown team. This was proven true when he invested in the team back in 2012. Timberlake has been so involved with the Grizzlies that he was actually part of a 2016 campaign to convince free-agent-to-be, Mike Conley, to rejoin the team.
While he may not have been a household name during Jordan’s dominant run with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, Timberlake is still someone that ESPN trusts to speak about the NBA and the teams that have impacted the league’s history in a positive manner. He will just be providing a different viewpoint than that of the former players, coaches, and fans.
Photo Credit: David Cannon/Getty Images
