1. This is Michael Jordan in 2000, years after he retired for the second time and a year before he'd come back one more time to play for the Washington Wizards. He's on a Japanese game show called Pro Sportsman, which is produced by the same people who make Sasuke, the original version of American Ninja Warrior. He's playing a game called "9 Hoops Hide," a variation of "9 Hoops," which is basketball, but all the hoops are placed in a grid/staircase formation on a weird contraption and the player has to make every basket within 12 free throw attempts.
2. There's not much info about Jordan's appearances on Pro Sportsman, but Hardwood Paroxysm did its best to find out a little bit more in 2014:
This 2000 9 Hoops competition for some reason took place in Los Angeles with no real fans in attendance and without Nike’s backing as Jordan is not wearing anything that clearly shows Nike’s logo. The whole event just seems to be a money thing for Jordan as he is earning Yen every time he makes a shot.
3. Jordan's played "9 Hoops" before, the video of which is lost (for now, but you see a bit at the beginning of the video above), and he won that time. The producers apparently wanted to see if he was still really good, because "9 Hoops Hide" is much, much harder. What makes "Hide" harder is that all of the hoops have a bit of unfairness to them, from having a loose rim to being placed behind a bunch of other hoops. Jordan reasonably has trouble with a few of them.
4. The final shot yielded one of the best Jordan clutch reactions ever:
5. For some reason, I think this game would be a really good addition to the NBA All-Star Game. Given how the NBA has a magician among its players in the form of Stephen Curry, I think it'd be amazing to see how he and other players would do with the same course Jordan took.
Slam Dunk Contest: You have to see this effort to believe it
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