NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

On September 23rd, 1994, a screenplay was submitted to Warner

Bros. Pictures by one Michael Jordan, recently retired basketball
superstar and current baseball prospect with the Double-A
Birmingham Barons. The script was an uncompromising look at an
icon's life: the pains of perfection, the otherworldly existence,
the cartoonish indignities one must suffer to maintain greatness
in the public eye.

The script was shocking, disturbing, and ultimately deemed

unproduceable, both in content and scope.

Eventually, following extensive notes from Warner Bros.

executives, rewrites by Hollywood screenwriters, and input from
the corporations of Nike, Gatorade, Hanes Underwear, the National
Basketball Association, Wheaties, McDonalds, Major League
Baseball, MCI Worldcom, Rayovac Batteries, Ball Park Franks, Cigar
Aficionado Magazine, AMF Bowling, Bijan Cologne, Jewel-Osco
Grocers, Oakley Sunglasses, Bigsby & Kruthers Men’s Clothing,
Chicagoland Chevrolet Dealers, and Michael Jordan's Steak House, a
more sanitized, family-friendly draft emerged that would find its
way to the silver screen.

Although the film was a hit and instant cultural touchstone,

rumors swirled around Hollywood circles about the infamous,
downright dangerous first draft of the screenplay (commonly
referred to as "The #1 Draft.") Finally, following years of
archival research, Freedom of Information Act requests, and a
lengthy lawsuit with the Ball Park Franks corporation, the script
can come to light.

Some light editorial changes have been made, redacting words that
would now (and in most cases, then) be considered aggressively
sexist, blasphemous, or anti-Mormon. Additionally, due to the need
to reconstruct the script from multiple sources, some pages
include the handwritten notes of Warner Bros. Pictures' then
Executive Vice President of Development Shawn Manhearst.

What follows is the original draft of the film, penned by Michael

Jordan and frequent collaborator Ahmad Rashad. It is an
unadulterated expression of sport, art and grief. A triangle
offense of superego, ego and id. It is self-critical. Honest.
Unapologetic. Revelatory.

It is Space Jam: The #1 Draft.

- Michael Drake

Editor, "The #1 Draft Project"

TheNumberOneDraft@gmail.com