December 14, 2023 – This is another movie that I skipped when it appeared in local theaters. It turns out I should have gone to see it. It is a fine movie, now streaming on Prime Video. The reason I skipped it is because I think entirely too much is made of Michael Jordan, but this movie is more about Nike than it is about Jordan.

As a graduate of the University of Oregon (where track coach Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike with Phil Knight, once ruled the track world) and as a former resident of Portland (Beaverton's Nike headquarters is in the Portland metro area) I saw some familiar things in this movie. I am still mad that the Portland Trail Blazers didn't draft Jordan when they had the chance. Imagine Jordan and Clyde Drexler in the same backcourt! It would have been awesome!

But the Blazers selected the injury-prone Sam Bowie, and went into decline, while the Bulls selected Jordan and became an NBA powerhouse during the time he was there. During that time, big men still dominated the NBA. In fact, the number one player drafted that year, Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, was certainly no slouch, winning two NBA championships, a league MVP and a two-time NBA finals MVP.

Everyone knew that Jordan was one of the top players of that 1984 draft that included three more Hall of Fame players in addition to Olajuwon and Jordan -- Charles Barkley, John Stockton (the all-time NBA assist leader) and Oscar Schmidt (the all-time leading scorer in the history of basketball) but few thought Jordan would rise to the heights of stardom he eventually reached. One of those who predicted this was Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon) a basketball talent agent at Nike.

Vaccaro, facing the loss of his job and the closure of his department at Nike, made a bold proposal, that Nike put all of its basketball eggs in one basket and bet on Jordan. Nike usually signed several players nobody else wanted, but Vaccaro saw in Jordan a way for Nike to surpass its bigger shoe industry rivals, Adidas and Converse.

Vaccaro had a difficult time convincing his bosses at Nike, Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman of “Game Night”) and company founder and CEO Phil Knight (played by Ben Affleck of “Justice League”) who thought that Vaccaro's plan was too risky. They thought Jordan was probably going to sign with Adidas, and if Jordan did not sign with Nike, then the company might get shut out of the NBA market completely.

Vaccaro follows the suggestion of Nike's Howard White (Chris Tucker of “Silver Linings Playbook”) and goes to visit Jordan's parents directly, bypassing Jordan's agent, David Falk (Chris Messina of “Call Jane”) who was opposed to Jordan dealing with Nike. Vaccaro meets with Jordan's mother, Delores (Viola Davis of “The Woman King”) who proves to be receptive to the idea of hearing Nike's proposal. Although this movie is based on a true story, this part of the movie is wrong. In real life, Falk was in favor of Jordan meeting with Nike.

In the end, Delores makes a surprising counter-offer to Nike, one that will change the face of sports endorsements forever. The contract between Jordan and Nike has far-reaching effects, as revealed by intertitles at the end of the film. This film, directed by Ben Affleck (“Argo”) and writer Alex Convery successfully builds tension in a story where everybody in the audience already knows the outcome. The story also works as “how to” historical movie about sports endorsement deals.

Affleck plays a kind of hippie businessman who seems to be a bit out of touch. Damon plays a man who is driven by his vision of what Jordan will become, while Bateman plays a businessman who is very worried about his job and where all this is going. All three performances are very strong. Viola Davis, of course, is a supremely talented actress, and is a perfect choice (chosen for this role by Michael Jordan himself) to play a strong, smart woman. Also good is Matthew Maher (“Gone Baby Gone”) who plays shoe designer Peter Moore. It is nice to see Affleck and Damon back together again. They of course first appeared together in “Good Will Hunting” (1997). This film rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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