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SMIGEL: I know he signed a lot of basketballs that week.

But I will say, he signed a lot of stuff in the first half of the week and he was very gracious about it. PITT: It was the only time in my seven years that there was a sign on the host’s door saying “No Autographs.” That wasn’t him-it was the show instituting that. SANDLER: I remember Lorne was telling everybody, “Just stop with the autographs. But Jordan, yo…it got to the point, they had to put a guard, a policeman, outside Michael Jordan’s dressing room for the cast. ROCK: The cast is used to famous people-we had famous people on every week and nobody would ask for autographs or anything. I don’t think he was like, “I want to be a great host.” He wanted to do it right for the show’s sake. They have to just trust the process.ĪDAM SANDLER (cast member, via Dan Patrick Show, 2017): I don’t think he had that much pressure on himself.

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PITT: People would be surprised that athletes were such good hosts, but Lorne Michaels would say, “They’ve been coached their entire lives-they take direction really well.” That week of the show is unlike anything else in entertainment or sports they’ve conquered the highest heights, but they don’t necessarily know how to do this. But it didn’t matter-just the phenomenon of Michael Jordan, even if you were a Knicks fan, everybody was a Michael Jordan fan. With Jordan, people just couldn’t believe he was there.ĬLEGHORNE: I’m from New York, I was a big-time Knicks fan, but my mother’s from Chicago, and I used to spend summers in Chicago. We’d had Joe Montana and Walter Payton, Wayne Gretzky whenever we had an athlete, everybody’s starstruck. It’s funny to think back on that nowadays all the emphasis is on “rings.” This guy only had one ring at the time, but there was no question in anybody’s mind he was the greatest player anybody had seen. SMIGEL: It was like Babe Ruth-I remember Al Franken saying that. It was like Babe Ruth had come in to host the show. GARY NEWTON (SNL extra): It was always a big deal to host the first show of the season and obviously Jordan was at his zenith. It was like hanging around Iron Man or something. That Monday was my first day at work, and I got to meet Michael Jordan.ĬHRIS ROCK (cast member, via Complex’s Sneaker Shopping, 2017): He was the biggest star that had ever done the show…He was at the height of his powers. I went out to New Jersey, picked up him and his wife at the airport and when it was call time, I’d just go hang and wait for him.ĮLLEN CLEGHORNE (cast member): I was a new cast member. I was one of only two guys in the talent department, and wheneverĪn athlete hosted, it was like, “Why don’t one of you guys handle this?” So I was sort of Michael’s guy all week. JIM PITT (SNL talent coordinator): It’s one of my favorite subjects. I’m sure they were already pursuing him heavily. I was told later that that gave him the confidence to host SNL. The sketch was a big hit and he had a great time.

I met him, got to work with him and do the sketch with him-he was very laid back and friendly. He didn’t do a ton of comedy on that show, but he did the “Super Fans” piece with us that night. ROBERT SMIGEL (SNL writer and cast member): The preceding summer, there was a comedy tribute to Jordan at the Chicago Theatre. “We had a lot of athletes on the show,” long-time writer Robert Smigel says, “but Jordan was the pinnacle.” Almost 30 years later, cast members, extras and writers remember being struck by Jordan’s professionalism and star power-and by how well that episode holds up. Polished and composed, Jordan nailed nearly every line. Jordan was practically perfect, knocking out a memorable monologue (in a quilted, olive-green jacket that later inspired a special makeup of the Air Jordan VI) and appearing in a half dozen sketches, three of which became iconic: “The First Black Harlem Globetrotter,” “Bill Swerski’s Super Fans” and “Daily Affirmation With Stuart Smalley.” Jesse Jackson’s unforgettable rendition of Green Eggs and Ham or a pair of intense performances from musical guest Public Enemy. The episode was an instant classic, and not only for the Rev. Just a few months after winning his first NBA title-and five years before his co-starring role alongside an animated rabbit in a Hollywood blockbuster-Michael Jordan made his first great leap into mainstream popular culture when he hosted the Season 17 premiere of Saturday Night Live.