LeBron James' 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' Director Explains Michael Jordan Cameo Twist

"Space Jam: A New Legacy" director Malcolm D. Lee has explained the surprising Michael Jordan cameo twist in the film.

Jordan starred in the first "Space Jam" movie in 1996, so fans had hoped to see him make a cameo in the LeBron James-led "Space Jam: A New Legacy." But as Don Cheadle previously teased, Jordan did make an appearance but likely not in the way people had expected.

In one scene, the Tune Squad and James were getting destroyed by the Good Squad. They were pretty down until Sylvester walked in with someone he found in the crowd. But while the shadow, the music and the build-up seemed to suggest that the Chicago Bulls legend was going to appear, the person that walks in is actor Michael B. Jordan.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lee called it "one of the greatest jokes that I've ever put in one of my movies."

Explaining how the "Black Panther" star's cameo came about, the director recalled, "In the midst of shooting, Mike was either working on the lot or something and he came by set a couple times and was hanging out with LeBron, and then somebody threw out the suggestion."

"I was like, 'That's a good idea, and if he's willing to do it, let's try it.' Mind you, the locker room scene was long and I didn't know if we were going to be able to sustain all this. Because there's a little bit more interaction between him and LeBron, which we cut out," he added.

The director noted that the joke was "super unique" to "Space Jam" and Warner Bros. had hoped to use it for the promotion of the movie.

"There's no other movie where you could play this joke. Warner Bros. wanted really badly to use it in marketing, and I was like, you cannot do that, because this joke is too good to sacrifice," Lee said.

The director admitted that he'd hoped the NBA legend would be willing to make a cameo despite it being a longshot. However, Lee had a plan that stemmed from a memorable line of Jordan's in his 2020 docuseries "The Last Dance," which focused on his sixth championship run in the '90s.

"We were holding out hope, but also knew that the likelihood was going to be very remote," he added. "Especially after 'The Last Dance' came out, I was like, we've got to be able to do something, even like a tag at the very end after the credits with Bugs showing him the movie and saying, 'What do you think, Doc?' And just Jordan going, 'I took that very personal.' I wanted to do it! It would have been fantastic, but our movie is our movie and 'Space Jam' is 'Space Jam.' "

Aside from James, "Space Jam: A New Legacy" also stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Zendaya, Cassandra Starr, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Cheadle and Klay Thompson, among others.

"Space Jam: A New Legacy" premiered Friday in theaters and on HBO Max.