LOS ANGELES—Referring to the stark time-jump as the right way to cap his comprehensive portrait of Michael Jordan’s final championship, The Last Dance director Jason Hehir defended his creative choice Monday to conclude the documentary by flash-forwarding to the year 2046. “I hear people’s frustrations, but we wanted to take some creative risks and explore how an aging Jordan would cope with his legacy,” said Hehir, dismissing criticism that scenes of a stammering 83-year-old Jordan spilling scotch on his shirt, and bragging to a nurse about the time he supposedly scored 81 points against the Suns in the NBA Finals, were exploitative. “We needed those shots of him watching the United Center get demolished. He can hardly even remember his playing days by 2040, but it’s important that viewers get a sense of Jordan as a person. People know Michael as the ultimate competitor, so we wanted to show his more vulnerable side, the guy who needs help going to the bathroom.” Hehir added that the scene where Jordan hears about Scottie Pippen’s death may be the most powerful thing he’s ever written and is Jordan’s finest performance in the entire series.