Nike was a running shoe company. Exclusively. Damn good one, too. I took up running in 197? and -at the time- Nikes were considered the best. You’d die for a pair to race in. If Nike never delved into other sports, it would still be an active, thriving company today with just the running, just the Olympics. But in between 1977 and today, a few things happened at Nike, and the biggest one was the landing of Michael Jordan, a huge gamble that paid off many, many, many times over. Nike’s marketing of Jordan redefined the industry for the egotism of the 1980s, something that has never changed back since.
Michael went #3 in the 1984 NBA draft (Hakeem –nee: “Akeem”—Olajuwon went #1, Sam Bowie went #2. God help the franchise that took Bowie.) (It was the Portland Trail Blazers). Rumor had it that Jordan was set to sign with Adidas. He liked the sweatsuits. At the time, Converse and Adidas dominated the NBA market. Nike owned a few talents, but an allegiance to Moses Malone only went so far. Basketball scout and habitual gambler Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) was Nike’s man for choosing allocation.
At the time, Nike was a $9B company, but had budgeted a mere $250k for acquisition of basketball talent. Nike had already talked themselves out of the top five picks in the NBA draft and had to focus on the sleepers picked lower. (Among them was John Stockton, who would go on to a HoF career, but hardly one that would sell basketball shoes, comparatively speaking.)
$250k was the bare minimum for Jordan, btw, who also wanted a red Mercedes as a bonus … a deal sure to be matched by Adidas or Converse, both of whom were more appealing to Jordan at the time.
On top of that, Sonny hasn’t the support he needs to make the deal he wants. He is stymied by both his boss, Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) and the Nike CEO, Phil Knight (director Ben Affleck in a terrible perm). As Sonny reviews the tapes again and again and again, he realizes something it will take the rest of the world years to figure out: Michael Jordan isn’t just your average college superstar; Michael Jordan will achieve in the NBA whatever he sets out to achieve. So the stage is set: how does Sonny Vaccaro get his boss, his co-workers, his CEO, and eventually Michael Jordan himself to see his vision?
And what is Sonny’s vision? Because what happened with Michael and Nike wasn’t just a coup, it was an entire redefinition of marketing. Nike built the “Air Jordan” specifically to sell Michael Jordan to the world. It is not an exaggeration to say the entire non-running line of Nike products relied upon this gamble. Oh, and it was a gamble. A few years later, Nike invested similarly in a guy named Bo Jackson. Bo’s baseball career is ridiculously overrated, yet it is still fair to say the man excelled at both baseball and football, which is something very few people can say. And Nike made money from that. And then Bo needed hip surgery in 1990, limiting both professional careers (he never played football again), and Nike made … less money. If that kind of thing happens to Jordan, would Nike basketball have survived? I suppose 
it’s impossible to say, especially given that Air Jordans were a cash cow from Day #1; in the very least, we can speculate that Nike basketball would not have flourished as it did.
Air is as much about the marketing revolution that took place as a result of the desire to court Michael Jordan as the wooing itself. The film asks Sonny several times how much he believes in his vision. Is it worth your own career, Sonny? Yes? Ok, then what? Suppose you knew in 1984 who and what Michael Jordan would become; what would you invest to take advantage of the knowledge?
I’ve described this film until now from a theoretical POV and little more, but the genius of Air is in the dialogue. This is the kind of film that makes you feel smart for watching it. Two performances that enhance this feeling especially are those of Michael’s agent, David Falk (Chris Messina) and Michael’s mother Deloris (Viola Davis). In its way, Air is as pointed and witty and sarcastic and fun as most anything in the Adam McKay or Aaron Sorkin realm. If you followed basketball in the 1980s, you will almost certainly enjoy this film, but it isn’t a requirement.
Does Air live up to the praise I wish to lavish upon it? In general, it is very difficult to love a film when you already know what’s going to happen. I found it sharp and funny and poignant and meaningful all at once. However, I have a major problem with Air stemming from the fact Michael Jordan isn’t a character in the film. No actor playing His Airness shows his face in the film and Michael Jordan’s “voice” is only heard briefly at the very end. Now I know this was a conscious choice; I have no doubt Jordan himself agreed to it. Air is essentially about the inception of the Jordan legend; these are the guys who laid the foundation; getting Jordan’s input would probably be counter-productive. Now here’s my problem with it – so essentially here’s a film that is an homage to Michael Jordan as the greatest competitor in modern history and the takeaway is a bunch of self-congratulatory white guys?! Do you see how wrong that is? Just try and step back from it – Michael Jordan is a legend. Here is a film about that legend … but it’s really about the “fat white guy” who “knew Michael was going to be a legend” before anybody else … except Michael and the Jordan family, of course. By all means, let’s make sure the Michael Jordan legend includes as many white faces as possible. I love that this story was told; I loved the way it was told, and yet I cannot help but be shamed by the optics of the tale as told. And with that in mind, I am happy to call Air good without calling it great.
His skills made the uninitiated stop and stare
And feats piqued historians to search and compare
Yet for all his hoops news
He revolutionized shoes
With a marketing campaign that went by the name of “Air”
Rated R, 111 Minutes
Director: Ben Affleck
Writer: Alex Convery
Genre: Whitesplaining history
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Basketball fans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Converse and Adidas suits
