Sure, Space Jam became one of the many entertainment rites of passages for ’90s kids. It put the funniest rabbit in the universe, the entertainment extraordinaire, carrot-chomping Bugs Bunny, with this guy who was doing great things in the National Basketball Association. But it often overshadows the queen of all Michael Jordan movies. It’s the short film, Playground with a newbie director of that time. Then the movie’s leading man would win an NBA championship and catapult his filmmaking friend to stardom too.

Playground marked the start of the entertainment careers of both icons in front and behind the camera. While MJ would go on to appear in a pop culture classic ‘real’ feature film, its director would churn out full-length blockbusters starring superheroes.

Michael Jordan’s acting debut with first-time director

Contrary to popular belief, Space Jam was not Michael Jordan’s acting debut. In 1990, then Chicago Bulls star with two international gold medals to his name appeared in an indie film, Playground. It is billed as a short film at 43 minutes. But since The Academy defines a full-length feature film is of minimum 40 minutes, MJ fans decidedly dub Playground as MJ’s feature debut.

The direct-to-video movie is the first time Zack Snyder was alone in the director’s chair. He’d take highlights of Jordan’s career so far to build a coming-of-age plot interspersed with hip-hop culture. His Airness plays himself while a young Tyrin Turner stars as Walt, a teen who aspires for similar greatness.

Playground refers to the youth basketball culture in local neighborhoods. While Walt plays there, he doesn’t make it in his high school basketball team. It’s a direct reference to MJ’s own real life struggles to make his school team’s cut. Walt tries to develop his skills with no mentorship at the local playground. He runs into professional basketball star Michael Jordan there who takes him under his wing.

As some film buffs note, the scenes shot in the playground scream Snyder with its orange hues, slow motion and use of shadows. These little stylistic choices would be recurring themes in Snyder’s future box office hits like Dawn of the Dead and Batman v Superman.

His entire blockbuster career would surpass $3 billion, matching the Forbes 400 entrant, Jordan’s net worth.

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While Michael Jordan’s acting left a little to be desired, a critique he can’t shake off in his later entertainment career, his stardom would be the launchpad of Snyder’s career. The pre-championship Jordan, to his credit, tried to give his director what he wants.

Michael Jordan relied on his director

As much as Jordan clashed with Bulls management, he was different on a film set.

It showed on how he committed to Snyder’s vision for the best (or worst, depending on who you’re asking) scene of the movie. When Walt makes it to his team, no one who is happier than Jordan. It prompts him to break into song and dance.

The final minutes of the movie are a music video led by the hip-hop team, Full Force. While they’re obviously good, Jordan not so much.

A behind-the-scenes video has popped up on social media many times. It’s when Jordan is trying to learn the moves alongside Full Force. Despite Snyder’s direction and the artists’ tips, Jordan couldn’t get the groove in the final result. He still has the grace to poke fun at his fail.

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