Michael Jeffrey Jordan, arguably both the greatest basketball player and athlete of all time, achieved his stature in part due to his skill and tireless work ethic, and in part due to the myth making apparatus that surrounded him since his rookie year in the NBA. Perhaps the biggest component of this myth making machine for Jordan is Nike, the sportswear brand. Today, we know Nike as the leader in sportswear, but it wasn’t always this way. Air, directed by Ben Affleck (Argo), tells the story of how Nike became Nike and how Jordan became Jordan.
In Air we don’t follow Michael Jordan; instead the film focuses its attention on Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon), an employee in Nike’s rag-tag basketball division. Threatened by Nike CEO Phil Knight (Affleck) with the reality that the company’s board of directors wants to get out of the basketball business. Knight made the board’s thoughts clear: people wear running shoes in multiple settings, basketball shoes are only worn in one. Vaccaro knew their only chance at striking gold was through handing the entire department’s budget Chicago Bulls rookie Michael Jordan, an unprecedented move. Converse already had the market cornered with names like Dr. J, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird on their roster. And it was a well-known secret Jordan preferred Adidas, the brand Run DMC co-signed as the coolest amongst the growing rap generation. If Nike had any chance at saving their basketball division and snagging Jordan, Vaccaro needed to get a meeting with him and his family.
Air doesn’t break any new ground. We know the end result of the Nike and Jordan partnership. We’ve also seen the “know-it-all becomes a team player” trope and the sports biographical drama before (think Moneyball). But just because the film is formulaic, doesn’t mean that the formula fails. With Damon Affleck, Chris Tucker, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, and especially Viola Davis, the story of the birth of Michael Jordan myth making works spectacularly. The movie is both hilarious and deeply moving.
Talking to some people after attending the screening two weeks ago, they mentioned that they didn’t want to see Air. In their mind, it is a whitewashing of Jordan’s story. I completely understand the critique. If you look at the trailer for the movie or the poster featuring three white men on the marquee, it can be confusing. However, Air does something different.
The movie positions Michael’s mom Deloris (played by Davis) as the key mastermind behind who we know Jordan to be today, not Vaccaro, Knight, or even Jordan himself. It was her brash candor with executives, independence in thought from his agent David Falk (played by Chris Messina), and unwavering belief in her son that made everything in his life happen the way it did. Nike owes their success to her and the movie makes sure that it’s known (it’s no wonder that in my screening Wanda Durant, Kevin’s mother, was invited with special front row seats). Affleck pointed out in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that it wasn’t until he spoke with Jordan to get his blessing to tell the story that he learned about his mother and Howard White’s (Tucker) significant role in his signing, and got the idea from Jordan to cast Davis.
It’s also important to point out the role Sonny Vaccaro played in the world of basketball and sneaker culture. Vaccaro treated MJ like a person, something rare for brands at the time. He continued fighting for athletes after his time at Nike, leading the NIL fight that has allowed collegiate student-athletes to make money off their name, image, and likeness, something the NCAA long fought against. He founded the ABCD camps that featured players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and many others. His impact on the sport can’t be understated and I’m glad he received this moment in the spotlight.
And I can’t finish a review of Air without noting the chemistry between Affleck and Damon. Since the two Cambridge natives hit the Hollywood scene, they’ve excelled. In addition to their acting performances in the 1997 Academy Award Best Picture nominated film Good Will Hunting, Affleck and Damon are credited with writing its screenplay, for which they won Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Working together on the criminally underrated 2021 film The Last Duel, streaming on HBO Max, inspired them to start Artists Equity — a production company created to give the people behind the scenes on film sets an ownership stake in the movie. The mission to pay people what they deserve and what they are worth ties in perfectly to this movie; it’s no wonder Air was the company’s first project.
I highly recommend seeing this movie while it’s in theaters. Are you going to watch Air?