The Creator Of NBA Jam Rigged The Game So The Bulls Couldn't Make Last Second Shots

Big Cat9/25/2013 3:21 PM

(Source) Did you know that the creator of NBA Jam hated the Chicago Bulls so much that he embedded a special code that made them miss last-second shots?

For those that don’t know, NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game that was developed by Midway in 1993. It was the first entry in the NBA Jam series. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell. The game became ridiculously popular, and was often the most profitable game at arcades after its release, creating revenue of $1 billion in quarters at the game’s peak.

The game was released when the Chicago Bulls were in the middle of their iconic Michael Jordan Era, and Turmell was a huge Detroit Pistons fan. He explains how he programmed the Bulls to brick last second shots in this quote below:

“If there was a close game and anyone on the Bulls took a last second shot, we wrote special code in the game so that they would average out to be bricks.”

“There was the big competition back in the day between the Pistons and the Bulls, and since I was always a big Pistons fan, that was my opportunity to level the playing field.”

Well my entire life is a sham. Does this guy even realize what he just did? He basically said, oh yeah anyone who grew up in the 90’s and got in constant fights over the video game I created, well there’s a gigantic asterisks on that now. Thanks a lot Mark. Happy you were able to “level the playing field” because the Pistons couldn’t beat the Bulls. Nice job dickhead.

And for people who didn’t play NBA Jams who are probably wondering why a full court last second shot matters, it actually did, a lot. Those shots were like guarantees if you got them off in time with your good shooter. Free points. Basically every game came down to who had the ball last at the end of each quarter. So yeah, I am pissed about a 2 decade old game revealing this, ever heard of letting sleeping dogs lay? Well same with letting secrets that changed your video game childhood forever.

Big Cat’s Top 5 NBA Jam Team Rankings

1. Phoenix Suns – Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle

Perfect NBA Jam team, shooter and a big man.

2. Charlotte Hornets – Larry Johnson and Kendall Gill

This was before Kendall Gill was role player Kendall Gill and being Grand Ma Ma was absolutely awesome. Ferocious dunks.

3. Golden State - Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin

Sneaky favorite team. If you got Chris Mullin open in the corner it was an automatic 3, and when I say automatic I actually mean automatic. I think I once went 15 for 15 from that spot on the court with him.

4. Bulls - Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant

They lose points because Horace Grant couldn’t shoot the three and the creator had a vendetta against the Bulls and took it out on them in the Video Game like a pussy. Also the fact that MJ wasn’t in it was always heartbreaking.

5. Portland - Clyde Drexler and Tracy Porter

Both of these guys were awesome, both could shoot and both could dunk. And honestly I would’ve put the Sonics and Kemp as my number 5 but he was teamed with Benoit Benjamin. The next edition with Detlef Schrempf was probably my favorite team of all time.