--- title: Space Jam Then and Now: Michael Jordan, Bill Murray description: It's been 20 years since Michael Jordan explained away his return to basketball with the help of Bugs Bunny in the surprise hit Space Jam. canonical: https://time.com/4570270/space-jam-anniversary/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-15T17:10:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:19.837Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: See the Stars of "Space Jam," Then and Now og:description: It's been 20 years since His Airness teamed up with Bugs Bunny og:url: https://time.com/4570270/space-jam-anniversary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94a053097ea9d840/6988ae750a4a2293749cc0c8/michael-jordan-lead.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: michael-jordan-lead og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See the Stars of "Space Jam," Then and Now twitter:description: It's been 20 years since His Airness teamed up with Bugs Bunny twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94a053097ea9d840/6988ae750a4a2293749cc0c8/michael-jordan-lead.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the Stars of _Space Jam_, Then and Now  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 15, 2016 5:10 PM UTC  Warner Bros.; Catherine Steenkeste—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 15, 2016 5:10 PM UTC It’s been 20 years since Michael Jordan explained away his return to the basketball court with the help of Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Loony Toons gang. _Space Jam_ was a surprise hit—it’s still the [highest-grossing](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=basketball.htm) basketball movie of all time—and has become a cultural touchstone for millennials. Twentysomethings can be spotted rocking Toon Squad jerseys, Nike is issuing a special [Jordan sneaker](http://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/11/13/air-jordan-11-space-jam-2016/) for the anniversary and theaters across the nation will [screen the film](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/11/15/20-years-later-space-jam-is-the-movie-we-never-knew-we-needed/) this week. Still, a lot has changed since the film’s premiere in 1996: His Airness has gone from ruling the court to building empires on the sidelines, Bill Murray has swapped out his Toon Squad jersey for a [Chicago Cubs cap](http://time.com/4556121/bill-murray-celebrate-chicago-cubs/) and LeBron James is [trying to bring](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lebron-james-space-jam-2-815467) _Space Jam 2_ to life. Here are the humans of _Space Jam,_ then and now.  Michael Jordan Warner Bros.; Catherine Steenkeste—Getty Images  Bill Murray Warner Bros.; Sean Gallup—Getty Images  Larry Bird Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection  Wayne Knight as Stanley "Stan" Podolak Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection; Barry King—Getty Images  Charles Barkley Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection; Scott Halleran—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4570270/space-jam-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4570270/space-jam-anniversary/"},"headline":"See the Stars of Space Jam, Then and Now","datePublished":"2016-11-15T17:10:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:19.837Z","description":"It's been 20 years since His Airness teamed up with Bugs Bunny","url":"https://time.com/4570270/space-jam-anniversary/","keywords":["movies","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94a053097ea9d840/6988ae750a4a2293749cc0c8/michael-jordan-lead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94a053097ea9d840/6988ae750a4a2293749cc0c8/michael-jordan-lead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"michael-jordan-lead","caption":"Michael Jordan","creditText":"Warner Bros.; Catherine Steenkeste—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4570270/space-jam-anniversary/","name":"See the Stars of Space Jam, Then and Now"}}]}] ```