'NBA Jam' Designer Reveals Game Was Programmed to Screw the Bulls

The Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons rivalry ran deep in the early 1990s. The Pistons had dispatched Michael Jordan and the Bulls in three straight playoff series until 1991, when the Bulls finally defeated the Pistons en route to their first NBA title. When developing NBA Jam in the early 90s, lead designer Mark Turmell snuck in a easter egg for the rivalry.

In an interview with Ars Technica, Turmell, a Detroit Pistons fan, added in an edge for the "Bad Boys" in NBA Jam. As many fans long speculated, if the Bulls take a last second shot against the Detroit Pistons, they will always miss.

The creator of NBA Jam finally confirms the long standing conspiracy theory that the game was programmed so that if the @ChicagoBulls took a last second shot against the @DetroitPistons it would always miss.

Mystery solved! pic.twitter.com/ugBw7cbx8k
— ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ (@Arda) June 26, 2020

Turmell added this little trick to give his team the edge over their bitter rivals. The edge didn't transfer to real life though, as the Bulls would go on to win six NBA titles in the 1990s.

The in-game edit is a nice little jab at Bulls fans. Sadly, it was never Jordan missing the shot because he wasn't featured in the game (he was omitted from many video games after opting out of the National Basketball Players Association's shared licensing agreement). Instead, the closest Pistons fans could get to revenge over the GOAT was by beating his teammates Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong.

Jordan was only available to play as in a special copy of the classic video game made for him by the developers.

In a recent interview with @ScoopB, the voice of #NBA Jam, @Tim_Kitzrow revealed a cool story about a few VERY RARE copies of the game https://t.co/oyGB5QbG7A
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) August 21, 2019

If you can't get them back in real life, the next best thing is to do so in one of the most popular arcade games ever, right?