Michael Jordan had seen enough.
With rising UCLA sophomore and national champion Kris Johnson defending him, reigning NBA All-Star Cedric Ceballos wouldn't let the youngster go away easily. Ceballos had been "busting my ass," Johnson told ESPN, and talking smack while doing it.
At North Carolina, a poster of five-time NBA All-Star Marques, Kris' father, hung in Jordan's dorm room. Jordan had recently taken Johnson under his wing. So with Ceballos picking on Johnson, Jordan took action. He would guard Ceballos and Kris switched onto another All-Star, Reggie Miller.
"I'm like, 'OK, all right, what's going on over here?' And then Mike just systematically just went to attack Ceballos on multiple possessions," Johnson told ESPN.
In Johnson's words, Jordan "dismantled" Ceballos with multiple buckets in a row and delivered the trash talk back. Rocking the patent leather Jordan 11s, he jab faked with the ball palmed looking down and expressing his disdain that Ceballos wore 23 in the league -- Jordan's jersey number.
Johnson and Jordan won the game, a pickup held on the Warner Bros. lot in the summer of 1995 while Jordan filmed "Space Jam." The intensity of those runs rivaled a playoff atmosphere, and that interaction with Ceballos showed Johnson something.
"My takeaway, wow, Mike's a crazy motherf---er. He's really in real life, he's really that dude," Johnson said.
Jordan had just returned to the NBA after leaving to play baseball. The Orlando Magic defeated him and the Bulls in the playoffs, celebrating emphatically on the Bulls' home court.
It marked the first time since 1990 that Jordan's Bulls didn't play in the NBA Finals. For all intents and purposes, it wouldn't be a normal offseason. Add in a potential distraction with "Space Jam" responsibilities, and Chicago's three-peat could've been one-and-done.
But, this was Michael Jordan. He had Warner Bros. build the "Jordan Dome" on the lot. The six-week schedule included shooting scenes with "Monstars" by day, and hooping against the NBA's own "Monstars" by night: Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning and more.
Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of "Space Jam," which grossed $250.2 million worldwide against an $80 million budget to become the highest-grossing basketball film at the time. Jordan Brand commemorated the anniversary with a new six-part documentary that began Sunday. While the basketball on camera with the Looney Tunes drove that box-office success, the basketball played off camera helped shape Jordan's next act.
The pickup games at the Jordan Dome helped prepare him for Chicago's 72-10 season and another three-peat, gave fellow players a confidence boost and, according to his longtime trainer Tim Grover, served as an informal tryout for his future Bulls teammate.
"I'm not sure he played as much pickup ball in the offseason after that [95-96 season]," Hill told ESPN. "I could be wrong. ... But I think the summer of '95, it was about let me find, let me rediscover things. I don't know if he would ever acknowledge that, but I feel like it was like I got to get back to a certain level.
And he did."
The story of Jordan's first retirement then return is well-known. Months after winning his third straight championship, Jordan abruptly retired in October 1993, saying he had "nothing left to prove in basketball."
Baseball awaited with the Chicago White Sox and its minor league squad in 1994. It required a physical with obstacles. Grover explained to him that the muscles for baseball were completely different than the muscles for basketball. He told ESPN that he "totally redesigned" Jordan's body for baseball.
So when Jordan decided to return to basketball in March 1995, it seemed like His Airness would be back to his old self, but Grover believed there wouldn't be enough time to prepare his body.
"I said, 'Listen, you will still be MJ, but you won't be your version of MJ.' And he was like, 'Yeah, you don't know what the f--- you're talking about,'" Grover told ESPN. "And then he goes, he comes back and has [55 points] against New York and all this other stuff. But I had spent so much time watching him. I could just see there was just a little bit of a difference."
Jordan averaged 26.9 points in 17 regular season games, then put up 48 in Chicago's first playoff game against the Charlotte Hornets. The Bulls beat the Hornets in the first round, before losing in six against the Magic in the second round.
The offseason brought new territory for Jordan with no championship to play for.
Jordan's movie commitment happened before his basketball return. Nigel Miguel served as the film's basketball technical adviser and Jordan's body double. Miguel told ESPN that Jordan's contract included a guarantee that there would be a place and time set aside for him to work out.
The idea for the Jordan Dome was born, though the studio's initial vision was considerably less elaborate.
At Warner Bros. in Burbank, California, Grover met with a production official who proposed blocking off the VIP parking lot and painting basketball lines so Jordan could play outdoors.
"I was like, 'This is freaking Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is not playing basketball on a parking lot,'" Grover said.
There had to be a wooden basketball court, which Long Beach State supplied. The structure also had to be climate-controlled with shower facilities, a putting green, speakers, a card table, bathrooms, running water, ice and a weight lifting area. Even the lights had to be similar to the ones used in arenas.
Grover approved Warner Bros.' idea of the "Jordan Dome" and also a tweak himself: What about putting the Jumpman logo on top of it?
"Michael shot that down," Grover said, laughing.
But the facility passed all the tests once it was completed and included a door with a combination lock. The dome was torn down after filming so executives could receive their parking spots back. Miguel revealed that Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood took the weights -- fitting since A-list celebrities like Queen Latifah and Will Smith stopped by to watch games.
Director Joe Pytka, a hooper himself, called the dome fabulous and paradise, adding it became a scene. Grant Hill said he had never seen anything like a real court "essentially on a parking lot." Twelve-year NBA pro Tracy Murray, an extra in the film, likened it to going to "a circus or something.".
"Once you pull up to the actual site of the venue, which I had never seen before, it was 1995 and domes constructed like that weren't really normal," Kris Johnson told ESPN. "It looked like some weird stuff back in '95, like what the hell is this?"
This was near the set of "Space Jam," after all. Next came spreading the word.
Pytka had a familiarity with Jordan, as the two previously worked on multiple commercials. The shooting schedule went right up to NBA training camp, an added pressure for Pytka and the crew.
Jordan's schedule was 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday with a two-hour lunch in between. Prior to arriving on set, Jordan would get shots up at 5 a.m. with Grover. There would be more work at lunch, before playing pickup in the evening until 11 p.m. or midnight.
Murray emphasized that Jordan was "locked in" on coming back, and the movie wouldn't be a distraction. The cast and crew couldn't believe Jordan's daily itinerary. Stories in Hollywood often get exaggerated, but Grover ensured them: "This is who [Jordan] is."
While lifting weights with Grover and building chemistry with Bugs Bunny could be seen as the appetizer, the nightly pickup games served up the main course.
"Space Jam" had no shortage of NBA stars cast outside of Jordan. The "Monstars" consisted of Barkley, Ewing, Larry Johnson, Shawn Bradley and Muggsy Bogues. Others were uncredited, such as O'Neal, Scottie Pippen and Charles Oakley, according to IMDB.
Grover and Jordan worked their Rolodex, calling players to let them know when the pickup games would begin. UCLA men's basketball, fresh off a national title, got an invite. Grover had final say on who would come in and out, but Miguel and Nathaniel Bellamy Jr., a basketball coordinator and utility stunt man for the film, assisted in getting the word out, too.
"So it was kind of like you would tell players, you talk to their agents and whatever, 'Yeah we're casting for this part in the movie. They have that but then there's gonna be training there too. So come work out afterwards as well,'" Miguel said.
The league was in a lockout during most of filming, which allowed players to arrive freely. No one needed permission from their teams, according to Grover. It also delayed the attendance of Magic Johnson, then part of the Los Angeles Lakers' ownership group. He arrived later in the summer.
Murray likened the pickup runs to an All-Star Game -- a fitting comparison considering the Jordan Brand has outfitted the league's All-Star Game since 2018. Pytka participated in some games, even having an encounter with Jordan on the court.
"He was coming in for a dunk and I stepped in front of him to take a charge," Pytka told ESPN. "All I felt was a breeze and he dunked over me. Now, he could have gone over me, but it seemed like he went through me like a magical thing. I'll never forget that. It was just a breeze and he went by boom. It was incredible."
Grover described a revolving door of people at the pickup games, with even the invite-only crowd of stars from other Warner Bros. productions waiting behind a VIP velvet rope for the doors to open.
"Michael was and still is the star of stars. The stars want to meet him," he said. "Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kurt Russell, Dean Cain, I mean, the list, whoever was like the most prominent actor and actresses and writers and producers. They were all wanting to meet him."
The players faced a similar waiting period. With "15 All-Stars in there," as Grover put it, some of Johnson's UCLA teammates grew tired of waiting for a turn and stopped coming after a week or so.
Arguably the biggest beneficiary of the runs was Dennis Rodman, whose spot on the court carried a different set of stakes: a potential future alongside Jordan in Chicago.
After a seven-year run with the Pistons, the rebounding machine had spent two antic-filled seasons with the Spurs, the final of which included him being suspended and taking a leave of absence.
Grover revealed that Jordan received a call from the Bulls while at the Dome asking about his thoughts on the team potentially acquiring Rodman. At first, Jordan rolled his eyes, but then inquired about bringing him to play in the pickup games. Rodman arrived and Grover deemed it Rodman's "tryout" to see if Jordan would give the green light on a deal.
"If that thing did not go well, the history of Dennis Rodman and the Chicago Bulls was not going to happen," Grover said. "Cause if Michael said, no, there was no way. There was no way they were going to make that trade."
Rodman passed the test and Chicago got him in September 1995. Not far from a set where Jordan faced the "Monstars," he gained one that helped him three-peat.
Games followed a simple format: shirts and skins, first team to seven and the winner stayed on. That was necessary to ensure that all the big names that arrived could hit the court -- and keep the intensity high, like Jordan desired.
"It was probably the most competitive seven points you were going to get. It was like a playoff atmosphere," Murray said. "You come on there half-stepping and you're done right away and you're gonna sit there for hours before you get back on. So it was a war for those seven buckets."
Soon enough familiar rivals matched up again and Jordan began breathing fire.
"On the court, I didn't realize how ruthless of a villain he was," Johnson said.
Murray recalled it in an instant. Johnson was almost insulted by the question.
"Oh please, did [Jordan and Reggie Miller] go at it?" Johnson said.
A southern California native, Miller consistently attended the Jordan Dome runs. He and Jordan famously fought in a 1993 matchup. So it would come as no surprise that the two competed passionately, but especially in one game.
Murray compared it to "two bulls locking horns."
"I remember the day that Mike and Reggie were going at it like it was Game 7," he said. "The rest of us just threw them the ball and said, go to work because the level of trash talk during that time. They were going at each other like it was Game 7 of the Eastern Conference championship. ... I just don't see that type of love, passion and competitiveness anymore. But you saw it in a pickup game."
The same occurred when Grant Hill arrived.
Hill recently finished a Rookie of the Year campaign where he averaged 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and five assists per game. Hill was in the area due to a cameo appearance on the sitcom "Living Single," which Queen Latifah starred in.
According to Johnson, an underlying conversation at the time centered on Hill's status among the game's best. Naturally, people anticipated how Jordan and Hill would match up. Hill received an invite, but only could play for two days due to his schedule.
"I didn't know who would be there," Hill said. "I didn't know what the gym court situation was going to look like. I came with the hope of being able to be included and being able to play."
Hill hadn't considered a matchup with Jordan until he checked the ball and found himself face-to-face with him. Hill excelled on the first day, to the point where he rang his friends to brag that he "gave Jordan the business."
The following day, Jordan was "steaming," according to Grover, and instructed his trainer to put them on opposite teams. Jordan then got his revenge.
"I just remember Mike and G Hill absolutely going at it. And Mike really strapping in, trying to guard, trying to defend, really took the matchup serious," Johnson said. "Grant Hill was trying to bust Mike's ass, and they both got the best of each other during the matchup. ... That was the moment of the summer for me."
Before playing on the second day, Grover put Hill through a workout and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer said Grover "kicked my butt" in the weight room. At one point, Hill even asked Grover if Jordan trained like this, to which the trainer said yes.
"I'm not sure I ever lifted that hard and then I played and so I kind of rationalized things and justified my poor performance due to Tim Grover killing me in the weight room," Hill said. "But Jordan the next day, after I lifted weights, he gave me the business and he didn't seem to miss a shot and I couldn't make a shot."
Hill wouldn't jump to the conclusion that Jordan masterminded the heavy lift session to wear Hill out. But, it made its mark.
"I wasn't conditioned for that at that moment. I hadn't fully bought into the strength training at that point of my career," Hill said. "But yeah, whether he told him or not, I attribute my poor performance to that."
Grover, Miguel and Bellamy arranged the teams, with input from Jordan based on what he wanted to work on that day.
"He was very specific in things that he was trying to do to get back to basketball shape and basketball mindset," Miguel said.
On days that Jordan was running point guard, Grover would instruct a smaller person to guard and pick him up 94 feet. He would also tell them to force Jordan left, right or straight up.
Teams were rotated so that Jordan could learn players' tendencies again, and it played a part in him returning to his preferred shape.
"He never wanted 'best teams.' He always wanted to play against the best players or folks that would bring out certain things on him that he was trying to work on that particular time," Miguel said.
After learning Johnson was Marques' son and hadn't been picked to play despite repeatedly showing up, Jordan gave Grover and Bellamy a standing instruction: Whenever Johnson came to the dome, he would be on Jordan's team.
The arrangement built Johnson's confidence while giving Jordan another challenge.
"He was tightening up the bringing up the ball against pressure, the facilitating. So he was drawing doubles, using his gravity a lot in those pickup runs to sort of [call out] 'Mid-post area, let me get two over here,'" Johnson said. "And he had me on his team as a weak link, I think, to make it more difficult for him to win games. There were weeks where I was the only non-NBA player on the floor."
The pickup games were "an unbelievable situation" to improve in, according to Murray, and players reaped the benefits.
Those brushes with greatness, as Johnson described it, led to him having his best season in college the following year.
"It really kind of kick-started my entire development at UCLA and during that era." Johnson said. "Knowing I could play, knowing I was real, knowing I was good enough. Mike really instilled a lot of confidence in me that summer."
A similar result occurred for Murray, who averaged a career-high 16.2 points with Toronto the next season.. After limited playing time in his first three campaigns, he truly felt like he belonged in the league the next season.
"I came in there confident, ready to go, because that experience of playing with those greats on the floor all at the same time," he said. "If you're out there and you're being effective and you're out there blending in and playing just as good as everybody else, of course, you reach a certain level of confidence that carries over."
For as much as the participants improved their game in the Jordan Dome, Jordan himself needed an environment like that to return to form.
His usual offseason regimen never included as many pickup games as that summer. But, Grover agreed that they were "absolutely one of the most critical and necessary parts" of Jordan's preparation for the upcoming season and beyond.
Hill had never taken a break that long from basketball. So he struggled to understand how hard it would be to come back. That summer foreshadowed how the following three would begin for Jordan and the Bulls: with championship parades.
"Those games, finding his rhythm, playing against professional-level players, I think really helped prepare him for the start of the season," Hill said. "If you recall, they were off and running. And he was back to the level of player that really kind of, I think, helped set the table for him in the next three-year championship run."
A dome in Burbank helped Jordan stamp home the words he had faxed months earlier: "I'm Back."