“We Chose Michael Jordan”: Matt Damon Watched MJ’s Bulls Play His Celtics Every Year as a High School Kid at Boston Garden

Much of the legend surrounding Michael Jordan has to do with the hype built around his shoes and shoe deal with Nike. The man changed streetwear apparel forever with his debut sneaker line.

When the Air Jordans hit stores around the USA in 1985, everybody wanted a piece of it. Jordan had a clause in his Nike contract guaranteeing him royalties if the company sold $3 million worth of products in 3 years. Instead, Nike made $126 million in the first year itself.

About 4 decades later, sneakers have become collectible items in their own rights, with some game-worn shoes getting auctioned for millions of dollars. Jordan hasn’t touched an NBA court for 20 years now, but his brand still bosses the sneaker market.

Given the nature of this cultural phenomenon, Hollywood star Ben Affleck decided to release a movie on the background of MJ’s Nike deal. Appropriately titled Air, it is set to release in theaters on April 5th.

The movie stars Affleck in the role of Phil Knight – Nike’s founder and president. It also has Matt Damon playing the role of Sonny Vaccaro – the man responsible for Nike landing Michael Jordan as a client.

Matt Damon watched Celtics vs Bulls because his father couldn’t afford Lakers tickets

Matt Damon went sneaker shopping with Air co-stars Ben Affleck and Chris Tucker in Austin recently. The trio gave sneakerheads a good laugh in their Complex appearance together. Childhood friends Affleck and Matt, in particular, were quite the pairing.

Born and raised in Cambridge near Boston, Damon has been a lifelong Celtics fan. Although his parents divorced when he was 2 years old, Damon maintained a relationship with his father despite living with his mother.

Given that they weren’t really well-to-do, Damon’s father would take him to 1 Celtics game every year:

“My dad had a line on tickets and so he’d let my brother and me go pick one game. We obviously couldn’t pick the Lakers game – we lived in Boston, and it was the height of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry.”

“So the Lakers game, that was off the table – we couldn’t get the tickets. But what we always did was – we chose Michael Jordan. Whenever Jordan was coming to town. They just couldn’t guard him.”

The legacy of Jordan Brand

38 years since the Air Jordan 1 shoe hit the market at a price of $65, the Nike brand has become the most successful sportswear company in the world. They sponsor practically every spectator sport with apparel and footwear.

Michael Jordan was given his own Nike sub-brand – Jordan Brand – after his initial deal expired. He still earns royalties worth 5% of every Jordan Brand shoe sold.

The brand made over $5.12 billion in the year 2022. This means that the Air Jordan shoe line has earned MJ over $2 billion in its lifetime.