'The Last Dance' director explains the 'delicate' process of examining Michael Jordan's dad's murder and the conspiracy theories surrounding it

• "The Last Dance" director Jason Hehir told Insider how he brought up the death of Michael Jordan's father, James, for the docuseries with the basketball icon.
• He said he didn't address it with Jordan until the second time they met.
• He said he spoke to Jordan first about why he retired from basketball after his father's death to play baseball.
• One theory was that NBA commissioner David Stern was going to suspend him for his gambling. Another was that James Jordan died due to a gambling debt his son had.
• The docuseries debunks both theories.
• Hehir also said at one time he was going to interview a detective in the murder investigation of Jordan's father, but it was never possible due to scheduling issues.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

In 1993, at the height of Michael Jordan's reign as the NBA's greatest basketball player, Jordan's life was turned upside down when his father, James Jordan, was found dead near Fayetteville, North Carolina, after pulling his Lexus SC400 on the side of the road to take a nap.

The event would alter Jordan's life as the basketball player who had just completed a three-peat of championships with the Chicago Bulls and received an Olympic gold medal as a member of the Dream Team. He decided to retire and go play baseball — something he and his father discussed before his shocking death.

On Sunday, episode seven of ESPN's docuseries "The Last Dance" examined this dark event in Jordan's life, and director Jason Hehir admits it was a tough thing to bring up.

"It's definitely a delicate subject," Hehir told Insider. "It would be for anybody if you're talking about the death of their father, and a death that was horrific and violent."

Hehir said he did not bring it up until he and Jordan met for their second session of interviews. The way he addressed it was by asking Jordan to talk about the theories surrounding his sudden retirement and pivot to baseball. One theory is that Jordan retired because NBA commissioner David Stern was going to suspend him over his constant gambling off the court. Another was that his father's murder was retaliation for a gambling debt Jordan owed.

In episode 7, Jordan brushes off the theories. Even Stern says in an interview that he was never going to suspend Jordan.

"The answers may be unsatisfying to some people, but I truly believe that he doesn't give those things a lot of thought," Hehir said of how Jordan addressed the theories. "I haven't met someone who has a greater strength to be present and in the moment and not think about the past or the future. Think about how much that benefited him as a basketball player, to not worry about missing a shot and to just take it. I think he reacted the same way when he heard some of these outlandish theories put out there. I was glad that we addressed it, I think it would be irresponsible not to."

Hehir admits that there was a time when the show was going to take things a step further about James Jordan's death and interview a detective in the murder investigation. Inevitably, due to scheduling conflicts, that wasn't possible so archival news footage was used to cover Jordan's death.

The director said that he had no interest in trying to interview the two people given life sentences for the murder of James Jordan.

"I never wanted to give the murderers a voice," Hehir said. "I think those guys are where they belong and quite frankly coming to know Michael and his family a little bit I didn't want to put them through the pain of even seeing the faces of those people who did that to James and that family."

How Jordan was affected by the death of his father would be realized in one of the rawest moments of the docuseries in episode eight. After Jordan came back to the NBA and the Bulls won the NBA championship in 1996, footage shows Jordan weeping in the trainer's room after the game.

The Bulls won the championship on Father's Day.

The final two episodes of "The Last Dance" air Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Read more about "The Last Dance:"

• How "The Last Dance" got Michael Jordan to open up about his life and career like never before
• Michael Jordan wanted a shoe deal with Adidas so badly that he went back to the company before signing with Nike to see if it could match the deal
• Director of "The Last Dance" says he had to "word hard" to get insight from Kobe Bryant about Michael Jordan
• Michael Jordan said he would only appear in "The Last Dance" if he always had the final word
• Where Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman's interviews were filmed in "The Last Dance"