How Michael Jordan Got His Game Back While Filming Space Jam

Michael Jordan's surprise retirement in the 1993 offseason came right at his prime, just after his Chicago Bulls had completed their first of two 1990s three-peats. But less than two years later, he was back in the NBA, temporarily wearing an unfamiliar jersey number, and still pretty darn good on the court ... but not exactly at the same level he was at prior to his retirement. Jordan was very aware of this, especially since the Bulls didn't make it past the second round of the 1995 playoffs, and as Slam noted, one of the conditions he had for Warner Bros. while filming "Space Jam" was that he have his own place to train for the upcoming 1995-96 season. Enter the Jordan Dome.

The Jordan Dome was a facility at the Warner Bros. Studios lot in Burbank, California, specifically constructed for MJ to train during the making of "Space Jam," and quite fittingly, it looked like something you would have been seeing in the animated film, at least from the outside. The interior was more conventional, with a basketball court, a weight room, and locker rooms, but it also featured an elaborate entertainment center and a putting green; in other words, it was the ideal place for Jordan to train and unwind whenever he wasn't shooting scenes with Bugs Bunny and friends. And it certainly helped that Tim Grover, Jordan's personal trainer, designed the facility's interior.

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