The Onion: NBA Jam

Great article in today's Onion about Michael Jordan wondering why he isnt in NBA Jam. It was a great 90's quirk that MJ, the biggest athlete in the world in his prime, was never in any NBA games because he was not a part of the NBA players association and anybody that wanted him had to pay him directly for his likeness.

It was weird but then again video games were still for kids and sports figures didn't really care if they were in games, completely different story now of course as Madden's and 2K games have become mainstream icons. Then again the 90's were also a weird time for the NBA, with the pajama uniforms and cartoony logos, maybe Jordan was right in staying the hell away from the whole thing, though I'm sure it was all about money.

A choice quote from the article:

"'Scottie being there makes sense, but Horace Grant? Seriously? And how can Tom Gugliotta be in this game and not me? I could swear they paid me a $100 million licensing fee.'"

NBA Jam, which I nearly bought the other day, was also a quirk of the 90's: a 2 on 2 arcade style basketball game in which certain button combinations allowed one to choose random celebrities, from Will Smith to Bill and Hillary Clinton, some Mortal Kombat characters and probably Spike Lee. Here's the link.

Michael Jordan Wondering Why He Wasnt in NBA Jam - The Onion

Good to see The Onion didn't actually sell off to a Chinese fish salvage consortium.