Is Sonny Vaccaro really the visionary behind Michael Jordan’s lucrative partnership with Nike, as portrayed in the 2023 movie, Air?
Speaking at Fan Duel’s Run It Back Tip Off Experience ahead of Tuesday’s NBA Opening Night, retired Nike historian Scott Reames poked some holes in the narrative spun by director Ben Affleck and writer Alex Convery.
‘I was nervous when they started marketing it with the tag line: Inspired by true events,’ Reames told MC Michelle Beadle at the event in the Bronx on Tuesday evening. ‘… There was truth in a lot of it, but it was described to the wrong person.’
Set in the early and mid-1980s, the film centers on Nike’s search for a new spokesperson in an effort to compete with Converse and Adidas. Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon, is tasked by Nike CEO Phil Night to find that person, who ultimately turns out to be a particular rookie out of North Carolina.
‘So Sonny Vaccaro, Matt Damon was a key character, key star,’ Reames told the crowd on Tuesday. ‘And according to the movie, he did everything.
Michael Jordan was wooed to Nike by Sonny Vaccaro (right), but the story changes from there
Ben Affleck, Viola Davis and Matt Damon attend the premiere of Air in 2023
‘And in reality, Sonny Vaccaro was important in how he basically convinced Nike to sign Michael Jordan,’ Reames continued. ‘But his role after that pretty much disappeared.’
Instead, Reames explained, it was the efforts of Rob Strasser (played by Jason Bateman) and Peter Moore (played by Matthew Maher) that helped turn the Jordan-Nike partnership into the billion-dollar boom it became.
‘They did the lion’s share of all the things you saw in the movie that was given to Matt Damon,’ Reames said.
While some parts were embellished, other scenes were imagined altogether. No, Jordan’s mother Deloris was not the main negotiator on her son’s behalf, and Vaccaro’s visit to the Jordan family in North Carolina ‘never happened,’ according to Reames.
Reames also recalled a discussion with Knight about the film after the Nike CEO had caught a sneak peek.
According to the legendary sneaker magnate, ‘Air’ did a good job of capturing the ambiance of the Nike offices in the 1980s.
‘He said: ‘I love how it nails the 1984 vibe in the office,, everything was spot on,’ Reames said, paraphrasing Knight.
As for the rest of it, Knight was less impressed.
‘He goes: ‘Oh no, they got everything wrong,’ Reames said, drawing some laughs from the crowd.
Reames described his own experience of seeing the film, saying he had to repeatedly remind himself ‘it’s not a documentary, it’s not a documentary.’