The real story behind Air, the new film about how Nike signed Michael Jordan.

In 1984, Nike was the underdog of the sports shoes industry, known more for their running sneakers than the flashy basketball kicks of their competitors. And Michael Jordan was a soon-to-be rookie, who was yet to become a household name. 

One man’s relentless pursuit of a shoe contract changed all that. Nike’s unprecedented deal with Jordan to create the first pair of “Air Jordans” changed the face of sports marketing and athlete endorsement deals forever. 

Air, the latest project co-written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and directed by award-winning director Ben Affleck, is based on the real story behind the iconic partnership that made Nike and Jordan household names around the globe. 

Watch the official trailer for Prime Video’s Air, now streaming exclusively on Prime Video. Post continues below.  

“It’s hard to imagine now a world where there was skepticism about how well Michael Jordan would transition into the NBA or a world in which Nike was destined to be just a running apparel company,” Air screenwriter Alex Convery told TIME. 

“They obviously entered a different stratosphere because of the Jordan deal. We all know how it ended, but to be able to look at how we got there was very compelling.”

The critically-acclaimed film, which currently boasts a 92 per cent “Certified Fresh” Tomatometer rating and a 98 per cent verified audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, is streaming exclusively on Prime Video from May 12. 

Air features an all-star cast including Damon as maverick Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, Affleck as Nike co-founder Phil Knight, Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Marlon Wayans as George Raveling, Chris Tucker as Howard White, and Viola Davis as Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris Jordan. 

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In the 1980s, Nike was on the brink of closing their fledgling basketball division when they brought on marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. With his experience in organising high school basketball tournaments, Vaccaro was tasked with recruiting up-and-coming NBA players for shoe deals and endorsements. 

Vaccaro set his sights on Michael Jordan, who was the third pick in that year’s NBA draft. 

He convinced the Nike executive team to channel all their resources into recruiting Jordan and then convinced Jordan and his parents to choose Nike over their biggest rivals, Adidas and Converse. 

It’s Vaccaro’s unrelenting passion in the face of seemingly unconquerable odds which is the focus of the film. Damon’s portrayal of the character will have you rooting for a marketing executive who is hell bent on making millions of dollars for a shoe company. 

“He wasn’t the CEO of Nike,” screenwriter Convery explained to TIME. “He was this guy that didn’t even really have a title at the company, what he did was very kind of opaque and hard to put on a resume, but he was this really compelling character.”

In the film, Vaccaro first met with Jordan through his friend George Raveling, who was the assistant to the national team coach, Bobby Knight. It didn’t go well. But Vaccaro refused to give up. The day after the US team won the Los Angeles Olympics, he offered Jordan $2.5 million over five years with a 25 per cent royalty on every shoe sold by Nike. It was an unbelievable deal, especially as Jordan was yet to earn his stripes in the NBA. But Jordan remained unconvinced. 

The company then flew Jordan and his parents to Oregon so they could present their proposal to them in person. Jordan said little throughout the meeting, with his mother Doleris (played by Viola Davis in the film) acting as his advocate. It was Doleris, who knew the worth of her son’s immense talent, who made sure the deal was in his best interest. 

Eventually they came to an arrangement. 

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In an interview with the Dan Patrick Show, Vaccaro said it took three months to come to the agreement. 

“The idea for me was to help convince him to believe in this young company to do something that they’ve never done before. That was the chore,” he said. 

“He had his own mind. He had his idea of what he wanted to do and he didn’t want to go with Nike, that’s for sure. So it was my greatest journey.”

Jordan has since explained that it was his parents who eventually convinced him to sign the deal. 

“In all honesty, I never wore Nike shoes until I signed with Nike,” he said in an interview with USA Today. “I was a big Adidas, Converse guy coming out of college. Then actually my parents made me go out to (Nike’s headquarters) to hear their proposal.”

That year, Jordan debuted for the Chicago Bulls wearing a pair of Air Jordan 1s. Within 12 months, $126 million worth of Air Jordans were sold across the world. 

The rest, as the film depicts, is basketball shoe history. 

These days, Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time. But he has also been hailed as a marketing legend, who changed the relationship between sports brands and athletes forever. 

And Nike, well they’re now synonymous with the game of basketball. More so than their competitors Converse and Adidas ever were. 

Air tells the tale of a career-defining gamble, an uncompromising mother, and an unprecedented deal which will make you believe in even the craziest of dreams. 

Air is streaming exclusively on Prime Video from May 12.

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Feature Image: Prime Video. 

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