Watch Kobe Bryant shoot free throws on a 9-hooped backboard for a Japanese game show in 1998

1. Michael Jordan wasn’t the only NBA star to get into some “9 Hoops” shenanigans -- Kobe Bryant did, as well. Much like Jordan’s appearance on Pro Sportsman, not much information is known about how this happened, but judging from the place Kobe’s playing at, this had to have been during an Adidas tour appearance in Japan. Although the video doesn’t say the actual year, the YouTube comments point out that it took place in 1998.

2. The version of “9 Hoops” that Kobe plays is the “II” version, which involves moving hoops. Ultimately, Kobe doesn’t win “9 Hoops II,” and as far as Sasukepedia knows, no other NBA player did either -- not even Michael Jordan, who was one basket away from winning.

3. Actually, Sasukepedia also notes that Jordan’s the only NBA player to win the original “9 Hoops” and “9 Hoops Hide” (the version with hoops at different heights, with some behind other hoops). It’s a factoid that’s simultaneously cool and a bummer -- a bummer because now I know Clyde Drexler, who pops up randomly at the end of Kobe’s video, doesn’t win “9 Hoops.”

4. I still maintain that this should be an event at NBA All-Star Weekend next year. The All-Star events that exist right now are great on their own, but I think a game like “9 Hoops” would be refreshing for players and fans, because it’s an absurd concept that looks really fun to play.