{"id":1138971,"date":"2020-04-12T14:52:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T18:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1138971"},"modified":"2020-04-21T21:47:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T01:47:00","slug":"never-forget-that-michael-jordan-and-larry-bird-played-the-best-game-of-horse-in-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/never-forget-that-michael-jordan-and-larry-bird-played-the-best-game-of-horse-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Forget That Michael Jordan and Larry Bird Played the Best Game of HORSE in History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the NBA currently on hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a group of players are banding together to produce a HORSE tournament that will begin on Easter Sunday on ESPN. So that got me to thinking about the legendary TV spot that aired during Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 featuring an insane game of HORSE between Michael Jordan<\/a> and Larry Bird<\/a> in which the two made shots from the most ridiculous places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the story of how the epic spot came together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Michael Jordan vs. Larry Bird spot came together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_oACRt-Qp-s\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the early 1990s, Michael Jordan had become the biggest sports star in the world. He led the Chicago Bulls to multiple NBA titles and made millions upon millions of dollars in endorsement deals, one of the big ones coming from McDonald's. Ahead of Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, McDonald's chief marketing officer Paul Schrage knew one thing: he wanted a big Super Bowl spot featuring Michael Jordan promoting the Big Mac. His creative team got to work, bouncing ideas off one another until the light bulb finally went off. Michael Jordan would play a game of HORSE for the grand prize of a Big Mac and fries. But who would be his opponent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDonald's executives obviously wanted another big name to star in the spot alongside Jordan and the biggest name thrown around was none other than Shaquille O'Neal<\/a>, who was becoming one of the biggest stars in the NBA at the time. However, the spot's copywriter, Jim Ferguson, and art director Bob Shallcross shut that idea down rather quickly<\/a> as they truly wanted to make things as believable as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“McDonald\u2019s really wanted to see Shaq. I remember Bob telling them, \u2018The guy can\u2019t even hit a free throw. How\u2019s he going to hit one from mid-court?\u2019”<\/p>Copywriter Jim Ferguson on the idea of Shaq joining Michael Jordan in the commercial<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well that's certainly blunt, isn't it? But also true. In the end, Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, who had recently retired from the NBA, was chosen and it was the perfect choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘No dunking'<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n