Well, ‘The Last Dance’ lived up to the hype. ESPN’s Chicago Bulls docuseries took us on an extraordinary journey through the 1998 NBA playoffs from the perspectives of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and for approximately six seconds, Kathy Martin Harrison.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘Screaming Pacers Lady’, Harrison was featured in Episode 9 prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Pacers.
Indiana Pacers fan blonde lady screaming at Bulls “God d**n you!!#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/laq1VUGEgJ
— Ade (@rawnaleeda) May 18, 2020
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Dan Dakich quickly took notice:
Anyone in Indy know who this is? Gotta get her on the show https://t.co/3Aozwb2T1x
— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) May 18, 2020
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We found her. Harrison joined Monday’s Dan Dakich Show less than 24 hours after her national television debut.
“I don’t have Twitter or Facebook or anything, so all of a sudden, I just start getting all these text messages…it’s been quite a night and quite a morning,” Harrison told Dan.
What was Harrison’s initial reaction to seeing herself on television?
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” she said. “[I was] stunned, [it] brought back tons of memories…We’ve had those seats – we sit right behind the visitors bench – and we’ve sat there for 44 years.”
“When we started making that run in 1994, we felt it was our job to get into the heads of the visitors…You can’t do it today because they’ll arrest you. But back then, it was okay to be feisty and yell at the players. And the players would yell back at you. It was just a lot of fun, I do miss those days.”
Harrison went back and forth with many NBA players over the years, but Knicks center Patrick Ewing and a certain Chicago Bull stuck out in her mind.
“Michael [Jordan] was totally cool, he’d look back at me and shake his head,” Harrison said. “But the biggest thing I had going on was with Rodman. Dennis Rodman and I battled constantly back and forth.”
“He’d go, ‘Uh, that diamond ring you have on your hand, it’s fake. That’s fake.’ And I go, ‘Okay, Dennis.’ We would just say crazy things, funny things, back and forth.”
22 years later, has she toned down the trash talk at all?
“I’m older now, and I just sit quietly in my seat. I do jump up and yell at the refs once in a while.”
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