Bill Murray Wants More Credit For Helping Win Final Game in ‘Space Jam’

Bill Murray visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! (home edition) from his bathtub on Wednesday, where he quipped he does not get enough credit for his work in Space Jam. 

The veteran Saturday Night Live funnyman spoke with the host about a number of subjects, but their chat mostly revolved around Murray missing sports amid the pandemic. Kimmel asked if he had been watching the ESPN docuseries The Last Dance, which chronicles Michael Jordan’s final championship season with the Chicago Bulls. Murray, a huge Bulls fan, confirmed he was and that he loved seeing himself in old clips since he was at a lot of those big games. 

“There! I’m in the background! Stop, play that back,” Murray joked about seeing himself in the series. 

Asked about his most memorable experience with Jordan, Murray reminded Kimmel that he did play himself in the 1996 live-action/animated comedy, a performance he joked deserved more credit. “People forget I got the assist on the game-winning basket,” Murray said. “I stole the ball. I made the pass. I got nothing. I wasn’t even interviewed after.” 

In seriousness, Murray said he enjoyed making the film, especially since it took so much time to set up between shots that he, Jordan and Larry Bird could escape for a while to play golf. 

His favorite memory with Jordan, however, was when the NBA icon agreed to take a picture with his late mother and her friend.  

“There is the most hilarious photograph of my mother, Lucille Collins Murray, one of the paler beauties ever put on the planet, standing next to this giant man — she was only 5′ 1″ or 5′ 2″ — and the smiles on both their faces, because they knew how ridiculous the photograph looked.”

Watch the full segment below. 

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