40 Fun Facts About NBA Jam

Which superstar is missing from the original NBA Jam because Midway never secured his name and likeness rights?

Michael Jordan held the rights to his own name and likeness rather than leaving them with the NBA, so the league's licence could not put him on the Chicago Bulls.

NBA Jam's 1993 US arcade revenue exceeded the domestic box office of which blockbuster film that year?

Jurassic Park was the biggest film of 1993 in the US, and NBA Jam beat it a few coins at a time, with single machines earning up to $2,400 a week.

Which superstar plays in arcade NBA Jam but is missing from the home console versions?

Shaquille O'Neal lines up for the Orlando Magic in arcades, but he later bought control of his own name and likeness, and the home versions went ahead without him.

NBA Jam's lead designer rigged the Chicago Bulls to miss last-second shots against which team he supported?

The Detroit Pistons got their edge only in close games, and the designer did not confirm the long-suspected bias until 2008.

Which US president can be unlocked as a hidden player in the 1990s home versions of NBA Jam?

Bill Clinton was in the White House when the games came out, and the home versions of Tournament Edition also let players pick the First Lady and Vice President Al Gore.

In NBA Jam, what visibly happens to the ball once a player has scored three baskets in a row?

It catches fire and singes the net, and the scorer gets unlimited turbo and sharper shooting until the other team scores.

Hidden fighters from which arcade series were removed from NBA Jam Tournament Edition at the request of the NBA?

Mortal Kombat's Raiden, Reptile, Scorpion and Sub-Zero were playable in test cabinets until the league asked for them to be taken out of the final version.

The dunking bodies of the stars in the original NBA Jam were digitized from video footage of whom?

Amateur players were filmed and the stars' heads added afterwards; one of the models, Stephen Howard, went on to play in the NBA himself.

Which twin brothers both appear in arcade NBA Jam, one for the Chicago Bulls and one for Washington?

Horace and Harvey Grant are identical twins: Horace partners Scottie Pippen in Chicago, while Harvey lines up beside Tom Gugliotta for the Bullets.

Which cartoon character was planned as a secret NBA Jam player alongside Godzilla before both were scrapped?

Bart Simpson and Godzilla never made the final game, though its hidden roster still grew to include the designers themselves.

Which point guard partners Karl Malone on the Utah Jazz in every version of the original NBA Jam?

John Stockton and Karl Malone are one of the few duos that stayed the same across the arcade, console and handheld versions.

Which team's NBA Jam duo of Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway had been two-thirds of the high-scoring Run TMC trio?

Golden State Warriors fans had lost the trio's third member, Mitch Richmond, in a 1991 trade, so the home versions list him for the Sacramento Kings.

NBA Jam Tournament Edition's hidden players Hugo, Benny and Crunch are better known around the NBA as what?

Team mascots Hugo the Hornet, Benny the Bull and Crunch the Wolf can all be unlocked, along with the Gorilla who entertains the crowd in Phoenix.

NBA Jam drops fouls and free throws, but which violation is still called along with the 24-second shot clock?

Goaltending and the shot clock are the only rules left, so shoving or elbowing an opponent to the floor goes unpunished.

NBA Jam's announcer borrows a sneaker catchphrase from Mars Blackmon, a character played by which film director?

Spike Lee first played Mars Blackmon in his 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, then carried the character into Nike basketball shoe commercials.

Which veteran NBA broadcaster replaced the series' original announcer for the 1996 arcade sequel NBA Jam Extreme?

Marv Albert took over for the first game in the series with 3D graphics; the original announcer's delivery had been reminiscent of his.

Which publisher revived the NBA Jam series in 2010 with its original lead designer as a consultant?

EA Sports rebuilt the two-on-two game at its Canadian studio, giving the players 3D bodies topped with photographs of their real heads.

Which American football arcade series did Midway create by applying the NBA Jam formula to another league?

NFL Blitz proved a major success in its own right, and Midway gave hockey and baseball the same exaggerated treatment.

Which rookie, the only college player on the 1992 Dream Team, appears for Minnesota in arcade NBA Jam?

Christian Laettner was drafted third overall by the Timberwolves and went straight into the game beside veteran Chuck Person.

Which Houston Rockets guard, later a studio analyst on Inside the NBA, partners Hakeem Olajuwon in arcade NBA Jam?

Kenny Smith gave way to Vernon Maxwell in the home versions, one of many arcade pairings updated for the following NBA season.

Which New Jersey Nets guard was removed from NBA Jam's home versions after his death in a 1993 car accident?

Dražen Petrović died in Germany in June 1993, and Boston's Reggie Lewis, who died the following month, was dropped from the home versions too.

Which Phoenix Suns three-point specialist partners Charles Barkley in the arcade version of NBA Jam?

Dan Majerle led the NBA in three-pointers made that season as Phoenix reached the Finals, yet the first home versions gave his place to Kevin Johnson.

Which Seattle guard, left out of the original NBA Jam, mailed the designers his photos and asked to join the sequel?

Gary Payton had been passed over because Seattle's arcade pairing was Shawn Kemp and center Benoit Benjamin.

Which former Slam Dunk Contest winner partners Wayman Tisdale on the Sacramento Kings in arcade NBA Jam?

Spud Webb, the shortest player ever to enter the dunk contest, won it in 1986; the home versions replaced him with Mitch Richmond.

Which Charlotte Hornets guard, traded away in 1993, lost his NBA Jam place beside Larry Johnson to Alonzo Mourning?

Kendall Gill left for Seattle in the 1993 off-season, so the home versions teamed Larry Johnson with Mourning, the second pick of the 1992 draft.

Which Boston Celtics great, playing his final NBA season, partners Reggie Lewis in arcade NBA Jam?

Kevin McHale retired in 1993, so the home versions rebuilt Boston around Dee Brown and Robert Parish.

Which team, last in its division in 1992–93, is represented in NBA Jam by Brad Lohaus and Blue Edwards?

Milwaukee Bucks fans kept Lohaus and Edwards in the first home versions, before the later Sega CD and Game Boy releases switched to Vin Baker and Eric Murdock.

Which New York Knicks power forward partners Patrick Ewing in arcade NBA Jam before John Starks takes over at home?

Charles Oakley spent ten seasons with the Knicks and ranked year after year among the NBA's best rebounders and defenders.

Which Boston Celtics legend joins Magic Johnson as the final opponents in the 2010 NBA Jam on Wii?

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson head a cast of more than 30 unlockable legends, among them Julius Erving, Dennis Rodman and Manute Bol.

Who voices the announcer in NBA Jam and re-recorded his lines for the 2010 revival?

Tim Kitzrow says he improvised much of the commentary, although the announcer's script is credited to the game's composer, Jon Hey.

Which forward plays for the Indiana Pacers in arcade NBA Jam but for the Seattle SuperSonics in the home versions?

Detlef Schrempf was traded to Seattle for Derrick McKey after the 1992–93 season, and the home versions followed him west.

Which guard, who played only two NBA seasons, joins Derek Harper on the Dallas Mavericks in arcade NBA Jam?

Mike Iuzzolino averaged nine points a game for Dallas, and the home versions replaced him with Jim Jackson.

Who was NBA Jam's lead designer and programmer, having earlier programmed the arcade shooter Smash TV?

Mark Turmell also hid himself in the game: entering his initials and a date unlocks him as its most powerful secret character.

Which publisher of NBA Jam's home versions later won the rights to the name, forcing Midway to retitle its sequel?

Acclaim put the name on its own 1996 arcade sequel and kept releasing console games under it until the company closed in 2004.

What did Midway call its 1996 arcade basketball follow-up after another company won the rights to the NBA Jam name?

NBA Hangtime kept the two-on-two formula and added a create-a-player mode, alley-oops and double dunks.

Which 1989 Midway arcade game, a two-on-two basketball game with legal punching, is NBA Jam's gameplay based on?

Arch Rivals let players punch opponents and steal the ball without penalty, but its teams were fictional until NBA Jam brought in the real league.

Which Midway shooter's disappointing arcade sales pushed its designer to make NBA Jam as a game with wider appeal?

Total Carnage reached arcades in 1992 and fell short of sales expectations, so the team's next project aimed for a far broader audience.

What kind of hidden mini-game does a joystick and button combination unlock on the original NBA Jam arcade machine?

A tank battle lets the player drive around shooting enemy vehicles for a minute, and it was removed in a later update of the machine's code.

NBA Jam Tournament Edition was a North American launch title in September 1995 for which new games console?

PlayStation owners could buy the port on the console's first day in North America, and it also reached the Saturn, 32X and Jaguar.

NBA Jam was the second best-selling home video game of 1994 in the United States, behind which Super NES hit?

Donkey Kong Country only arrived in November 1994, while NBA Jam's console ports sold two million copies over the course of that year.