Air- the story of Nike's pursuit of MJ. Damon, Affleck, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker

[MAUFRAIS 6630]

Need to get me an Eastbay subscription.

[Mittens 8287]

3 hours ago, Celery Man said:

I may actually be about to buy these. I don't think I'll really wear them but I had this pair when I was... little, 9 or 10 (like.. wtf i'm surprised my mom bought me these?) and they were my favorite shoes of all time as a kid. The little pull thing broke and Mom took it to Houston Shoe Hospital where the guy said it happens all the time.

ah actually the site i found trying to find this picture is not in fact nike.com and looks scammy (shejune?) and they don't have a size 13 anyways

I dig that model too, but I couldn't see me wearing them anywhere.  Feel like I can pull off the 4s in casual dress.

Definitely have to do your due diligence when looking for these reiussues as there's a ton of scam sites out there.  I messaged my guy (read: black and 15 yrs my junior) and asked about www.darewhy.com as it seems like there's way too much product in too many sizes to be legit.  Will update as I find a legit source.

2 hours ago, MAUFRAIS said:

Need to get me an Eastbay subscription.

RIP to the goat mail order catalog. 

[Celery Man 20981]

I actually think I unlocked the memory of getting those shoes. The shoe store next to Ace Chinese in the back corner of Panther Creek Shopping Center, trying on lots of shoes, being super ecstatic about those ones, mom “ohhh these are $100” and then eventually “don’t tell dad”.

[Mittens 8287]

@Celery Man I'm told this is the best site: https://www.goat.com/sneakers/silhouette/air-jordan-7

There's 2 ways to buy - choose the one that sends the shoes to goat first to verify and then sends to you.  I am told if they are fakes you get your money back....still trying to track that down in writing, but I think this is as close as I'm going to get: https://www.goat.com/buyer-protection-guarantee

This is apparently another good site: https://www.rif.la/collections/air-jordan/jordan7

"I don't fuck with stockx. They've been caught with fakes too many times" 

[Not a cat 5660]

I used goat to buy my kids shoes from time to time.  The sellers sends them to goat and they verify and then send to you.  Last time the description was off (something like the original box wasn't included if I recall) so goat asked me if I wanted a refund or if they should look for a replacement on their website.  

Tldr - been happy with goat in the 2 or 3 times I've used them. 

[Mac8111 2107]

$400 million per year …

[TwiceHorn 31511]

Good flick.  Not as good as Moneyball, or maybe even the Blind Side, but it didn't have the benefit of Michael Lewis doing the source material.  That guy has an amazing gift for making matters business fascinating and compelling. Damon and Affleck are talented as hell, but Lewis is another level for that kind of thing.

Not sure the royalty was any real stroke of genius.  Unlike other deals, Jordan was lending his name to the shoes and other products.  That's a flat-out trademark license pretty much any way you slice it.  What's staggering is that Nike didn't offer it to begin with.  Royalties are a win-win proposition for both sides most of the time, and if the Licensor is convinced he/it is extraordinarily valuable (Mama Jordan), and will sell a lot of product, then it's a no-brainer to juice a deal at little cost to the Licensee. 

The 80s music I loved.

[Eskimohorn 5642]

Affleck strong in the paint with the grape jogging outfits.

[LonghornSean 4008]

Fun movie. Not much wasted time or filler. Although it had one of the longest “where are they now/true fact end credits” sequences I can remember.

I think B- (or 3 out of 5) is about right. Great movie to stream for free and I’m sure will do well on Prime.

[Not a cat 5660]

5 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Good flick.  Not as good as Moneyball, or maybe even the Blind Side, but it didn't have the benefit of Michael Lewis doing the source material.  That guy has an amazing gift for making matters business fascinating and compelling. Damon and Affleck are talented as hell, but Lewis is another level for that kind of thing.

Not sure the royalty was any real stroke of genius.  Unlike other deals, Jordan was lending his name to the shoes and other products.  That's a flat-out trademark license pretty much any way you slice it.  What's staggering is that Nike didn't offer it to begin with.  Royalties are a win-win proposition for both sides most of the time, and if the Licensor is convinced he/it is extraordinarily valuable (Mama Jordan), and will sell a lot of product, then it's a no-brainer to juice a deal at little cost to the Licensee. 

The 80s music I loved.

I was just watching Winning Time and during the 79/80 season they had Knight offering Magic his own branded shoe, some Nike stock and $1 per shoe sold.  No idea how true that is, but once someone develops a personally branded shoe, royalties are a natural and logical result.

[C-Man 27237]

I was just watching Winning Time and during the 79/80 season they had Knight offering Magic his own branded shoe, some Nike stock and $1 per shoe sold.  No idea how true that is, but once someone develops a personally branded shoe, royalties are a natural and logical result.

I can’t remember if that was in the book or not.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the Jordan Nike show was the first individually-branded shoe in basketball history. Prior to that, they signed athletes to endorsement deals and then they wore what the company had. I remember seeing Magic and Bird in team-appropriate colors but it was the same shoe.

Stan Smith’s came out in the 70’s (or 60’s). I can’t think of any other athlete-branded shoes before those. I guess Chuck Taylor qualifies but that wasn’t really “professional” basketball back in his playing days.

[Dutch 4474]

Watched it last night on Prime and very much enjoyed it. Damon and Affleck are always great together, and the soundtrack, basically every awesome song from 1984, fucks. I it got me interested enough that I watched The Last Dance episode that covered the shoe story; forgot he wore the Jordan 1 at his final game in MSG. 

[RiverwalkMiner 257]

23 hours ago, Mittens said:

@Celery Man I'm told this is the best site: https://www.goat.com/sneakers/silhouette/air-jordan-7

There's 2 ways to buy - choose the one that sends the shoes to goat first to verify and then sends to you.  I am told if they are fakes you get your money back....still trying to track that down in writing, but I think this is as close as I'm going to get: https://www.goat.com/buyer-protection-guarantee

This is apparently another good site: https://www.rif.la/collections/air-jordan/jordan7

"I don't fuck with stockx. They've been caught with fakes too many times" 

Sorry to derail the movie talk. 

I like https://www.stadiumgoods.com/en-us/ They are  straight retail  and also a 3rd party reseller. The store in Chicago was just like stepping into a episode of Sneaker Shopping on YouTube.

For less popular releases, try the "make a offer" on Goat. Just for fun, I put in a offer on some Gore-Tex Jordan 1's at $50 below the last selling price and someone took it. Still had the tags attached and authenticated. 

[Celery Man 20981]

If you told me “Blister in the Sun” came out in 1996 I’d believe you, and same thing for 1979. I guess it was sometime around 1984.

[royiv 9332]

23 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Not sure the royalty was any real stroke of genius.  Unlike other deals, Jordan was lending his name to the shoes and other products.  That's a flat-out trademark license pretty much any way you slice it.  What's staggering is that Nike didn't offer it to begin with.  Royalties are a win-win proposition for both sides most of the time, and if the Licensor is convinced he/it is extraordinarily valuable (Mama Jordan), and will sell a lot of product, then it's a no-brainer to juice a deal at little cost to the Licensee. 

The 80s music I loved.

The genius is that it had never been done before. Now it seems obvious, but at that time it was foreign and seemed risky. Jordan created a whole new revenue stream for superstar athletes. A lot of very rich athletes owe a debt of gratitude to him, his family and his representation for creating a new industry.

[DixonHur 11344]

2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

If you told me “Blister in the Sun” came out in 1996 I’d believe you, and same thing for 1979. I guess it was sometime around 1984.

Tell me you're a millennial without telling me you're a millennial 

[C-Man 27237]

2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

If you told me “Blister in the Sun” came out in 1996 I’d believe you, and same thing for 1979. I guess it was sometime around 1984.

1983, actually. On Tuesday night in Dallas, I saw the Violent Femmes’ perform that entire album to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release.

[Celery Man 20981]

If it came out today, I’d think “damn what is this fresh sounding jam?”

[TwiceHorn 31511]

9 hours ago, royiv said:

The genius is that it had never been done before. Now it seems obvious, but at that time it was foreign and seemed risky. Jordan created a whole new revenue stream for superstar athletes. A lot of very rich athletes owe a debt of gratitude to him, his family and his representation for creating a new industry.

Well, any lawyer with any sense would look at the deal and say, "hey, that's a license."

As has been pointed out, Stan Smith (Rod Laver, too) had lent their names to Adidas shoes, and I don't know what the arrangement was there.  But once the deal was struck to use the Jordan name on Nike shoes, paying a royalty was a blinding glimpse of the obvious.  Or should have been.

Granted, Name, Image, and Likeness weren't super-firm concepts in the law in that timeframe, but licensing of a name/surname as a trademark has been done practically forever.

And, if Nike was so concerned about their budget for basketball, a royalty has little impact on budget, it aligns revenue and payout.

Edited May 19, 2023 by TwiceHorn

[BabaYaga 15302]

Heard on local sports talk show that Affleck took the finalized script to Jordan to get his blessing and see if he had any insights they missed - the original script was all about working with the father.  Jordan said none of that happened.  It was all his mother.  This is right before they were set to start shooting.  He also said that nobody else but Viola could play his mom.  Non negotiable.  At the time she was one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood.  She Affleck had an "oh shit" moment and had to flip everything around at the 11th hour.  Wild stuff.  

MJ movie demands

[kevwun 15811]

If I was gonna make a movie about a guy's life, I'd probably talk to him at the start of the project.

Edited May 19, 2023 by kevwun

[C-Man 27237]

5 hours ago, kevwun said:

If I was gonna make a movie about a guy's life, I'd probably talk to him at the start of the project.

It wasn't about Jordan's life. It was about how Sonny Vaccaro signed Jordan to Nike and completely changed the athlete endorsement landscape.

[kevwun 15811]

I know I saw the movie.  He's rather central to the story and Sonny's interactions with his family is a rather big part of the movie.

Edited May 19, 2023 by kevwun

[Snake Diggity 4625]

I thought this movie was excellent.  One of the 5 best movies I’ve seen in the last 10 years.  I was obsessed with basketball as a kid in the late 80s and early 90s, so that was definitely part of it.  But I felt like the acting and writing was top notch.  The speech Matt Damon gives at the climax of the film really hit me, as I felt like he summed up why our society worships pro athletes, and what sports is all about: greatness is inspiring, even if it’s just putting a rubber ball through an iron hoop.

[lateshow 1304]

Watched it last weekend. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[Celery Man 20981]

I felt bad for whoever Melvin Turpin (who Matt Damon said would be in Europe in 5 years) is so I looked him up. The good news is that his feelings probably were't hurt. He did wind up in Spain after 5 years in the NBA, was working as a security guard in the 2000s and died in 2010 of a self inflicted gunshot wound.

[Post Oak 20254]

I watched this video 200x as a kid and every time I hear the name Mel Turpin I think of Come Fly With Me.

 

[henrygandorf 29194]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:07 AM, TwiceHorn said:

Well, any lawyer with any sense