Some NBA fans might be aware of the story about Michael Jordan and Nike. To those who do not know, Sonny Vaccaro was the Nike executive at the time who saw the potential that the Chicago Bulls legend had. Sonny played a significant role in the creation of the Air Jordan brand as a subset of Nike.
Although there is no denying Sonny’s aid and contribution to Jordan’s success, he was not given enough credit and acknowledged During The Last Dance docuseries. Now a new movie starring popular Hollywood actor Mat Damon is set to release based on Vaccro’s perspective of the events.
With that being said, let us take a closer look at this movie and what Vacarro himself had to say about the accuracy of it.
Sonny Vaccaro was not allowed to edit the script of “AIR”
The upcoming movie is called AIR and has an impressive cast including Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Viola Davis. It is set in an era where Nike is nowhere close to what it is today and how Sonny (Damon) finds a rare talent that will revolutionize the company beyond everyone’s imagination.
Since MJ truly transformed Nike, there is no denying the truth to this story. However, all movies tend to exaggerate to some extent. Not all real-life events are covered and depicted accurately to the audience. Instead, it is edited and cleaned up to quite some extent. Here is what Vaccaro had to say regarding his involvement with the making of AIR.
“Jon Weinbach calls me and says he and Peter Guber have a project they’re doing that they want me involved with and it includes Michael Jordan. That’s all they told me. Pam and I go down to Beverly Hills and for three and a half hours we have lunch with him and about 15 people. He invites me to be a part of it—as a consultant. But said, We’re not going to share the script. You have no control over it or editing.”
Vaccaro shared that he was initially worried that his perspective would be shunned. Like it was for The Last Dance. However, he was thoroughly interviewed for 3 hours and a detailed version of his events was recorded.
Although he was hesitant since they made it clear he would have no real control, he still cooperated since big names like Damon and Affleck were involved. We hope fans and movie buffs give AIR a try.