#NBA Jam Creator Hid Special Code That Infuriated Chicago Bulls Fans

We all know the old saying, if you can’t beat ’em, add a line of code that ensures they can’t beat you. Ok, maybe that’s not exactly how the saying goes, but this news took the video game playing world by storm on June 26th, 2020 when the it broke that Mark Turmell admitted he added code to the smash hit video game NBA Jam which would not allow a player playing as the Chicago Bulls to score a game winning shot against the Detroit Pistons. The news is a little old, but it finds itself recirculating the internet in the last few days.

During an interview Turmell was quoted as saying “Making this game in Chicago during the height of the Michael Jordan era, there was a big rivalry between the Pistons and the Bulls, but the one way I could get back at the Bulls once they got over the hump was to affect their skills against the Pistons in NBA Jam. And so I put in special code that if the Bulls were taking last-second shots against the Pistons, they would miss those shots. And so, if you’re ever playing the game, make sure you pick the Pistons over the Bulls.”
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In the late 80’s and early 90’s, before the dynasty that Michael Jordan laid the groundwork for after he came to Chicago, the Detroit Pistons were among the best teams in the league, at the time led by Isiah Thomas. In the early years of the rivalry, Jordan found himself in the position of being physically contained, or at least as much as Detroit could hold him back. For the most part, this did work, at least until Jordan finally got some back up in the form of Scottie Pippen and later, Dennis Rodman. Before LeBron had Wade and Raptor, Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman struck fear into players on the court as Chicago’s Big Three. As the teams’ new back up took hold, the rivalry with Detroit faded to the wayside, replaced by teams such as the Cleveland Cavilers and the New York Knicks.

Jordan has gone on record saying how much he still holds hatred for the Pistons, even to this day. Isiah Thomas, originally from Chicago, is hated in the city because of his time with the Pistons. This mutual dislike is reverberates deeper in fact because of the rivalry between the two NBA superstar legends and Thomas being a son of Chicago.

Despite NBA Jam being released in 1993, Michael Jordan’s prime with the Bulls, Turmell added the code to get back at the team, even though the game was at least partially developed in Chicago. As a matter of fact, Michael Jordan himself is not in the game due to Jordan owning his own name, image, and likeness. Midway, the video games creator, was unable to reach a deal to secure the rights to include Jordan in the original game. So remember, the next time you play NBA Jam, and you are Chicago playing the Pistons, open up a solid lead and don’t get into a game winning shot scenario, you’ll lose no matter what, and we will all laugh at you. This story originated at Fade Away World.

Topics: NBA, Video Games