National Basketball Association

3D basketball simulator lets fans become Michael Jordan

Published Feb. 16, 2015 12:26 p.m. ET

foxsports

If you grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s, you probably spent a fair amount of time in a driveway, gym or some other basketball-enabled facility recreating some of Michael Jordan's iconic game-winning shots. Maybe you're a bit older, or a little more basketball-savvy, and you went with the 1982 vintage -- Jordan's shot against Georgetown that secured the 1982 NCAA Championship. If you're on the younger side of the spectrum, you undoubtedly favor the shot that sank the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals, Jordan's final field goal as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

There are a number of options to choose from, of course. You really can't go wrong. And a recent display at the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend allowed fans to step inside a 3D simulation called "The Last Shot" and recreate one of the two aforementioned scenarios, as detailed by Wired.com (with video of a recreation of Jordan's jumper overy Byron Russell):

Here’s what happens when you step inside: your actual surroundings transform. You find yourself on a basketball half-court. At first, the walls around you are white as the THX 1138 set. But then those walls come to life. Suddenly, you’re surrounded by a realistic-looking crowd, because the walls are actually massive LED displays.

But wait, there’s more: The floor beneath you morphs into parquet. Which arena’s parquet? It depends what you selected while you were waiting in line. On wall-mounted iPads outside the scene you choose a scenario, and two of them are storybook moments from Jordan’s career.

The installation also includes a Chris Paul game-winner, though Paul's young son might not make the connection between Jordan and championship game-winners -- unless they come complete with cartoon teammates.

“We were playing in a game in Charlotte, and my (five-year-old) son was sitting court-side,” Chris Paul told the crowd during his visit. “He saw MJ and said ‘Daddy, that’s the guy from Space Jam.’ He relates more to Space Jam and the shoes.”

The Last Shot received its last call on Sunday night, as the display was shut down for the end of All-Star Weekend. But be on the lookout: The Last Shot could soon be on its way to your city.

There are no concrete plans to bring The Last Shot to other cities, but Facchini hints it’s probable. He wants to “find a way for everyone to experience the court.”

(h/t Wired.com)