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* ContestWinnerCameo: The 2010 game ran a contest for fans to come up with new catchphrases for the game, and the winners received a "Special Thanks" in the credits. Notably, [[RetroactiveRecognition one of the winners was a young]] [[WebVideo/PeanutButterGamer Austin Hargrave]].
* DummiedOut: According to Mark Turmell, UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan appeared in a very early revision of the original ''NBA Jam'', but was quickly excised from the game once Midway was notified Jordan wasn't a part of the NBA licensing.[[note]]For those wondering why he was an exception to the rule, NBA players have the option to opt-out of the licensing, thus allowing them to choose what NBA-related media they could appear in.[[/note]] However, Turmell also confirmed there is a small number of collector's editions of the original game with MJ's code intact.
* ExecutiveMeddling: The arcade version had a few ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' [[GuestFighter guest characters]] that the NBA forced Midway to remove due to not wanting to associate themselves with the infamously gory and controversial series. Ironically, they had no problem with the equally-bloody ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' being represented by protagonist Issac Clarke in the 2010 game.
* FollowTheLeader: Inevitably, with the runaway success of ''Jam'' and its successors, imitators started popping up over the years to cash-in on Midway's signature over-the-top gameplay. Notable examples include:
** ''[[VideoGame/EASportsStreet NBA Street]]''
** ''Slam City with Scottie Pippen''
** ''Barkley Shut Up and Jam!'' -- which ended up spawning [[VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden a whole other type of game years later]].
** ''VideoGame/LooneyTunesBBall'' -- notable for featuring most of the major players from the ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'' franchise, and being the basis for Acclaim's later ''Jam'' games, alongside the ''Space Jam'' tie-in game.
** ''[=RapJam=]: Volume One'' -- notable for featuring real-life rappers as players; something that ''VideoGame/{{NBA 2K}}'' would do years later.
** ''VideoGame/NBAPlaygrounds''
** ''Basketball Jam'', a popular ''Jam''-styled browser game that was hosted on Miniclip before they abandoned Adobe Flash-developed games in late 2020.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: There are some older cabinets that were produced and sent out before Michael Jordan pulled out of the NBA's blanket licensing deal. These are the only way to play as Michael Jordan in an official ''NBA Jam'' game[[note]]outside of one exclusive ROM produced for Jordan at his request[[/note]] and are considered to be among the Holy Grails of arcade gaming.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers:
** Due to conflicting player contracts with competing game studios, Acclaim was forced to remove UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, Charles Barkley and Creator/ShaquilleONeal from ''NBA Jam Extreme'''s player roster. This also got them cut from Midway's ''Hangtime'' roster[[note]]Though ''Hangtime'' ended up having another player omitted from the roster for [[Film/SpaceJam another legal reason]], [[{{Irony}} despite that player being allowed to appear in]] ''Extreme''[[/note]].
** Some have also claimed that the three players' [[Film/{{Kazaam}} film]] [[Film/SpaceJam contracts]] that year also kept them from appearing in ''Extreme''. While neither Acclaim nor the film studios confirmed nor denied this, Jordan was also featured in a video-game tie-in for Space Jam, which used Acclaim's ''Extreme'' engine, lending credence to the rumor.
** In 2010, 2K Games gained exclusivity to Michael Jordan's likeliness for ''VideoGame/{{NBA 2K}}11'' (Which was his first appearance in a major basketball sim in almost ten years) and onwards, which prevented EA Sports from including him in the 2010 reboot, thus continuing the 20+ year tradition of Jordan being shafted from NBA Jam.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda:
** No, a half-court dunking Superman is not in the game. [[Film/SpaceJam Nor is a Michael Jordan who can do the same thing]]; he was busy making another game, ''VideoGame/MichaelJordanChaosInTheWindyCity''. However, a very rare collector's cabinet of the original game ''did'' include Jordan on an "All-Star" team with Gary Payton, minus the half-court dunking.
** There were rumours that certain cabinets of the original ''Jam'' were haunted by Drazen Petrovic's ghost,[[note]]Petrovic died in a car crash just before ''NBA Jam'' had shipped, software updates later removed him.[[/note]] as the game would randomly call out his name. [[http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/9/26/4772246/four-bizarre-revelation-espn-interview-nba-jam This actually happened to Jam team themselves]], and while it's officially classified as a bug, Mark Turmell pointed out it didn't start happening until after Petrovic had died, and ''Jam'' had long been shipped out. Even to this day, original cabinets of ''Jam'' will still call out Petrovic's name.
** This game was a gold mine for fake hidden characters and odd cheats. Elviscious, Grim Reaper, Kong, Raiden, Reptile, and Sub-Zero were all in beta arcade versions but were eventually cut at the behest of the NBA, but rumors persisted they existed. [[WolverinePublicity ESPECIALLY]] [[Franchise/MortalKombat Sub-Zero and Scorpion]]. New hidden characters were added to the console ports, adding more fuel to the fire.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** A Franchise/MortalKombat themed court was going to appear in ''Hangtime'', but didn't go past the development stages.
** Again, the series and its spin-offs being the go-to Basketball game for a good chunk of the 90s, yet Michael Jordan - ''the'' most dominant player of the 90s - was always left off the roster. Not even the EA reboot could include him.
** EA's ''Jam'' was originally only supposed to get a physical release on the Wii, with 360 and [=PS3=] versions being bundled digitally via a coupon with ''NBA Elite 11'' in 2010. When ''Elite'' got delayed (and eventually canned entirely) later in the year, ''Jam'' got a full retail release to compensate for it.
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