How Magic Johnson Ruined NBA Jam
This is the story of how Magic Johnson's t-shirt company kept the greatest basketball player of all time out of the greatest NBA arcade game of all time, NBA Jam.
Video Transcript
[FUNK MUSIC]
- This is a Magic Johnson t-shirt. And this Magic Johnson t-shirt might be the reason that Michael Jordan isn't in NBA Jam. This is the story of how Magic Johnson ruined NBA Jam. It's June, 1987. Magic has just won his fourth NBA championship. In eight seasons in the NBA, he's made 6 Finals appearances, won 3 Finals MVPs, 1 league MVP, and has been a 7-time All-Star.
He's been to the top of the mountain so often that now it's starting to look a little different. He's noticing new things, like the championship t-shirts they're wearing. Where does the money go when the league makes a shirt with his picture?
Magic does some digging. He discovers that the NBA Players Association has sold the players licensing rights for $150,000 plus royalties. This seems a little low. So Magic meets with David Stern and tells the commissioner that he's going to form his own t-shirt company. He wants league licensing rights.
David Stern gives in and grant's Magic a small licensing deal. He can manufacture and sell shirts, but only with his own likeness and in only three styles. If after one year his company does well, he can come back for more. Magic Johnson becomes the first active NBA player to have his own licensing deal. And his new company Magic T's is born.
The next season, the Lakers repeat as league champions, defeating the Pistons in a hard fought 7-game series. At the parade through downtown Los Angeles, all the Lakers wear the traditional Salem Sportswear character shirts. But not Magic.
He's got on one of his own t-shirts, a new back-to-back championship design that Magic T's has just released. They sell 120,000 shirts in four days. Magic T's is granted licensing rights to the rest of the league, followed soon by licensing rights to all of the leagues.
By 1991, the reign of Magic's Showtime Lakers is coming to an end. But his t-shirt empire is thriving. And his number one selling item is a t-shirt of that year's MVP Michael Jordan. Magic and Jordan face off in the 1991 NBA Finals.
During a TV appearance together before game 1, Magic presents Jordan with his company's top product, telling Michael I want to thank you for playing so well. Because whether we win or lose, I'm gonna make a lot of money off of you. Michael's all smiles on the air. But according to Magic, as soon as the cameras stop rolling, he calls his agent demanding to know how Magic can sell a t-shirt with his image on it.
Fast forward six months and Michael Jordan announces he is opting out of the NBA PA group licensing agreements. Magic can't sell Jordan t-shirts anymore, and neither can the NBA. The league is forced to replace Jordan's face with Tim Hardaway's on the upcoming All-Star game t-shirt.
But the most devastating blow to fans comes a year later in April of 1993, when the greatest basketball game of all time is released, and it does not include the greatest basketball player of all time. From the moment it first hits arcades, NBA Jam is an instant sensation. No current basketball game has anything close to NBA Jam's wild dunks and outrageous calls.
- Boom shakalaka!
- Razzle-dazzle!
- He's on fire!
- It's also the first sports game to use photographs to create more realistic stop-motion graphics. The game generates over $2 billion in quarters alone and revolutionizes the video game industry. It's quite simply the perfect arcade game, except for one glaring flaw. When you pop in your quarter and tap the joystick over to the Chicago Bulls, it's Scottie Pippen and then not the face of the Bulls, not the face of the NBA, not the greatest player of all time. It's Horace Grant.
- No good!
- And it's all magic Johnson's fault, and maybe a little bit Isiah Thomas too. However there are reports that a holy grail version of NBA Jam exists, one that does feature Michael Jordan and also Gary Payton. And wait, Ken Griffey, Jr.?
According to Midway game developer Mark Turmell, Gary Payton contacted them shortly after NBA Jam's release wanting himself and a couple of his buddies added to the game. Griffey even sends them some headshots to create the model of his character. Midway makes a special version of the game and ships them to each of the superstars. Somewhere in the world, three absolutely perfect NBA Jam arcade games exist. And it's all thanks to Gary Payton.
