The 2023 movie, ‘Air’ shared Sonny Vaccaro’s story of landing Michael Jordan at Nike. He had built a relationship with MJ’s mother, Deloris, through frequent phone conversations, in turn, currying favor with the family. This led to the multi-million dollar shoe deal that revolutionized sneaker culture forever. But how did the former Nike marketing executive come across His Airness?
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Vaccaro was on The Pit Press talk show when he was asked about his earliest experiences with MJ. Interestingly, the 84-year-old shared,
“Michael didn’t play in the Dapper Dan. He wasn’t the best high school player in North Carolina.“
The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic was the earliest national high school All-Star game, inaugurated way back in 1965. And who was one of Dapper Dan’s co-founders? Sonny Vaccaro. He and his childhood friend set up the exhibition to bring together the best high school players in the country. It would’ve been the perfect situation for a first encounter with Jordan. Unfortunately, MJ never made the cut.
“There was a teammate of his [Jordan’s] who was voted Player of the Year in North Carolina. Michael wasn’t. I didn’t invite him because I usually looked at the first guy,” Vaccaro explained.
The iconic executive continued that after running the Dapper Dan for over a decade, he was confident, he knew who the top talent in the country was. Yet, he had never watched Jordan play. This was mainly because of Jordan’s high school teammate, whose player of the year honors had put him above Jordan.
Thankfully, Sonny didn’t pursue MJ’s high school teammate. But it took a couple more years for Vaccaro to finally see Jordan in person. And there was no better time for it than the NCAA Finals. Sonny Vaccaro explained,
“The only time I ever saw him play in my life, in person, was the year that they played Georgetown in the NCAA’s, and they beat Georgetown.”
In 1982, the end of March Madness saw the North Carolina Tar Heels take on the Georgetown Hoyas at New Orleans’ Superdome. Unaware that his entire life would change that night, Vaccaro was in attendance.
With his team down by 1 and 15 seconds on the clock, freshman Jordan got himself open and knocked down the first of his career’s many game-winners.
Maybe it was then itself that Vaccaro knew he was watching greatness. Because it led him to his greatest high risk – high reward decision; spending Nike’s entire budget on a player who had never suited up in the NBA. “I just bet my life, or bet my job on, getting him to sign at Nike,” Sonny added. It’s clearly a bet he would be willing to make again.
