Michael Jordan never lost an NBA Finals series, but his unimpeachable ’90s run of success does have one blemish: after returning to the league following a 17-month retirement in March of 1995, Jordan and the Bulls lost to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The defeat left Jordan not only demoralized but outraged. As guard Steve Kerr explained during episode eight of The Last Dance: “By the time training camp started, he was in incredible shape, but he was also frothing at the mouth. That’s how angry he was at losing.”
What happened to Jordan between losing to the Magic in the spring of 1995 and the start of what would become a historic 1995-1996 season, where the Bulls won a then-league record 72 games and the team’s fourth title in six years? A lot of physical training, some soul-searching—and Bugs Bunny.
During the 1995 off-season, Jordan was committed to starring in Space Jam for Warner Bros., the live-action and animation hybrid that cast the NBA superstar opposite the Looney Tunes, Bill Murray and Newman from Seinfeld. But while the film remains a beloved cult classic, it wasn’t Jordan’s main focus that summer.
“Space Jam was not as important as getting back and playing basketball at the level he wanted to play at,” Phil Jackson said on Sunday night, sounding suspiciously like a Monstar. “While they were filming, he went back to work.”
Watch Space Jam:
As part of the production process, Warner Bros. built Jordan an entire training facility, dubbed the “Jordan Dome,” which included a full-length basketball court. That allowed the former NBA champion to hold pickup games with a purpose, as Jordan’s former teammate B.J. Armstrong recalled.
“He had the idea that if he invited the best players in the league, out here, he would get a chance to see everybody before the season started,” the guard said. “Then it became a thing: everyone had to come out to Warner Bros. studios to play against MJ. This was his opportunity to see everybody, and we would do a scouting report.”
The games that summer have since become NBA legend. “It was like an NBA all-star game every day,” former small forward Tracy Murray told ESPN in 2016.
On a typical day, Jordan would film his scenes for Space Jam, then play three hours of basketball against star players like Patrick Ewing, Glen Rice, Juwan Howard, Charles Barkley, and Reggie Miller. He would return to the set around 6 a.m. and do everything all over again. “I don’t know how he did it,” Miller said of Jordan on The Last Dance. “This dude was like a vampire.”
Maybe he was, even more than Miller thought. “Playing against the young talent, they were full of energy. And I had to help excel my talent and get my talents back,” Jordan said of the games. But rather than extract vitality from his opponents, Jordan seemingly used the scrimmages to fuel his spite.
“I have a point to prove,” Jordan told the New York Times in an October 1995 interview. “Two years ago, I didn’t have that. That’s the difference. … Now people are saying Hakeem [Olajuwon] is the best player. They’re right. He was the best last year, and he still is. That’s motivation. It’s a pride thing. Can I change that, within the confines of what’s best for this team, and help us win another championship? I can’t make those judgments myself. But I can play the kind of basketball I played two years ago, then let people make a choice.”
Eventually, they did: Jordan was named MVP for the fourth time after the 1995-1996 season and led the entire league in scoring. As one of Jordan’s former Tune Squad teammates might say, that’s all, folks.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
— Behold Dune: An Exclusive Look at Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, and More
— How to Watch Every Marvel Movie in Order
— David Simon on The Wire and His Equally Pissed-Off New Show, The Plot Against America
— Beyond Tiger King: 8 True-Crime Documentaries That Sparked a Second Look From the Law
— Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes on His New Series and the Beauty of a Scheming Woman
— All the New 2020 Movies Streaming Early Because of Coronavirus
— From the Archive: The Notorious Rivalry of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, Hollywood’s Dueling Gossip Columnists
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.