Patrick Ewing got the opportunity to work alongside Michael Jordan on the set of “Space Jam” in the mid-1990s. During a recent appearance on The Roommates Show, Ewing was asked about his experience working on the iconic film, and he revealed Jordan always trolled him and Charles Barkley for not winning a title.
“Michael and I, we had the same agent and I thought it was a great opportunity,” Ewing said. “For our scenes, mines, Charles, Larry (Johnson), (Muggsy Bogues), it was a lot of fun. We would play pickup ball after the shoot was over, we’d go out to dinner, we’ll play pool, talk trash.
“Of course, Michael, he is one of the biggest trash talkers that you’ve ever had the opportunity to meet or play against,” Ewing continued. “He was always riding Charles and myself that we hadn’t won anything as yet.”
Pat talks about his involvement in the best basketball movie ever made 🐐
Full episode: https://t.co/TNLi9SUCRF pic.twitter.com/POMNnmPcZK
— Roommates Show (@Roommates__Show) June 8, 2024
Classic Jordan right there. Of course, he was a big reason why neither Ewing nor Barkley won a championship.
Jordan’s Chicago Bulls beat Ewing’s New York Knicks in the playoffs in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1996. The only time that the Knicks managed to get the better of the Bulls during that stretch was in 1994 when Jordan had retired for the first time.
As for Barkley, his Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated by Jordan’s Bulls in the 1990 and 1991 playoffs. Sir Charles also lost to him in six games in the 1993 NBA Finals, when he was a member of the Phoenix Suns. Thanks to Jordan, both Barkley and Ewing now find themselves on lists of the greatest players to have never won a title. It’s sadly one that neither wishes they were part of.
Ewing also revealed later in that video that he is now better known for being in Space Jam than for being a player.
“It’s funny because today, more people know me from that movie than me being a player,” Ewing stated. “… I’ll be coming through the airport, and a little kid (would say), ‘Aren’t you the guy that was in Space Jam?’ They don’t say, ‘Are you that great player?’ They say, ‘Are you the guy that was in Space Jam?’”
Space Jam hit theaters in 1996 and has gone down as an absolute classic. Thanks to the film being such a hit, a sequel, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was released in 2022, but it didn’t quite hit those heights.
Michael Jordan Took Great Pride In Ensuring Charles Barkley And Patrick Ewing Didn’t Win When He Was Playing
Getting back to the topic of rings, Jordan actually revealed once that he took great pride in making sure that Barkley and Ewing didn’t win.
“You know, you can talk about it, I joke around with my friends about it, Charles and Patrick and all these guys. I take great pride in making sure that they don’t win. I want them to win, but I just don’t want them to win when I’m still playing. I want them to feel like if they won a championship, it doesn’t feel quite the same because they didn’t face Michael Jordan.”
I am sure that winning a championship even with Jordan out of the picture would have meant a lot to both Ewing and Barkley. Would it have meant as much as winning it when he was still playing? Probably not.
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