How Michael Jordan Used Space Jam to Get Back into NBA Shape

Space Jam largely existed at all because Jordan's agent, David Falk, saw it as a tremendous branding opportunity for all parties. In 1992, MJ and Bugs Bunny showed strong chemistry in a Nike commercial, and Warner Bros. was wanting to reboot the Looney Tunes franchise. With Jordan comfortable to star in the movie as himself, it saw a chance for WB to reboot one of their most valuable franchises, and for Jordan to both continue to build his profile (and continue to re-establish his squeaky clean image), and showcase some of his products (like his very awesome Air Jordan 11s ).

But when it came time to film, Jordan had a request for WBhe'd need a place to train. "He knew that Space Jam was not as important as getting and playing basketball at the level he wanted to play at, and while they were filming he went back to work," Phil Jacksonthe Bulls' Head Coach for all 6 of their championships in the '90ssaid in the Last Dance episode. So Jordan told the WB executives that he'd need to practice, and he'd need a place to work out. So Warner Bros. built Jordan a full-sized Space Jam training domeit was dubbed the "Jordan-Dome".

The gym had a weight room, full-sized court, and everything else he possibly needed. Basically, if you remember Space Jam, this was the Looney Tunes gym, but after Taz's spit shine .

The Jordan Dome looked lit pic.twitter.com/4BrQkgo4Cx SI Extra Mustard (@SI_ExtraMustard)

On set also was Michael Jordan's trainer Tim Grover. Jordan's days sound pretty brutal for us mere mortals: he would film from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, with a built-in two hour break to work out with Grover. Grover and Jordan were working together to turn Jordan's body back from a baseball body into a basketball bodymore focus on his shoulders and chest. He was especially motivated following Bulls loss to the Orlando Magic in the 1995 playoffs.

Michael Jordan spent the 1995 summer filming Space Jam and training. He filmed Monday through Saturday from 7 - 7 pm, had a two-hour break for working out and then scrimmaged with other NBA pros from 7 pm to 10 pm. Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina)

To gain a further advantage, Jordan started inviting his NBA peers to the Warner Bros. lot for pick-up games after his filming days were over. In The Last Dance, we saw players like Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, and Dennis Rodman in the Jordan-dome.

"It was some of the best games," Miller said in the documentary. "There were no officials, so you were calling your own fouls. So it was a little more rugged and raw. I don't know how he did it. I don't know how he filmed all day and then still had the energy to play three hours. I mean we would play until like 9 or 10 at night and he still had to get weightlifting in and then his call time was like at 6 or 7 in the morning. So I don't know how, this dude was like a vampire for real."

Jordan saw the post-filming scrimmages as a necessity. "Playing against the young talentthey were full of energy, and I had to help excel my talent; get my talents back."

In a way, it's a case of art imitating life. As good as Jordan was immediately upon his return to the game in 1995, he saw the playoff loss as something that needed to immediately be corrected. So while he was helping some of his friendsSpace Jam costars Ewing and Shawn Bradleyget their talents back from aliens back while filming a children's movie during the day, he was playing against those same friends to gain his own talents back at night.

Just another chapter in the incredible mythology of Michael Jordan .