Air (2023)

Look, this is just business as usual in the American sports world. It’s totally normal. I mean, Lebron James was pulling in $90 million straight out of high school just to sign with Nike. Nowadays, any decent prospect can walk away with insane amounts of cash from gear manufacturers. What are you even talking about? Mentioning Mercedes... 🤣 That's a massive expense for a company, for crying out loud. 🙏

What, was he supposed to be out hunting for coke and hookers instead? 😳
Look, if he’s gonna pick something, at least he went with a Mercedes. The guy clearly has taste.

Such a great movie. I honestly love watching anything related to Jordan or Nike...
They basically reinvented sports and advertising as we know it.
Honestly, whenever I throw on my Jordans, it just hits different. There's just something about rocking that logo.

Chris Messina is wonderful 😍

Maria Rivera said:What, was he supposed to go looking for coke and hookers instead? 😳
At least he had the sense to go after a Mercedes. At least there's some taste involved.

Great movie. I’ve always had a thing for anything involving Jordan or Nike...
They completely flipped the script on sports and advertising.
There’s just something about wearing Jordans; it hits different. It’s a vibe, having that logo on you.

Chris Messina is wonderful 😍

Did you catch that onaj Mini dok series?

ironharbor45 said:Did you catch that mini docuseries?

Which docuseries are we talking about? thanks 😉

rowdytinker3 said:In the world of American sports, this is completely normal. We’re talking about LeBron James landing a $90 million deal with Nike straight out of high school. Nowadays, any decent prospect can squeeze insane amounts of money out of gear manufacturers. What are you even talking about? It's like Mercedes... 🤣 What a complete waste of money for that company. Absolute garbage. 🙏

Did Mercedes ask for a variable bonus on top of that $90 million?
So, the Jordans were pulling in $250,000 a year flat—which, back then, was one of the biggest deals on the table for either Nike or Adidas / Converse. And then you have this rookie coming in and actually demanding a cut of the sales on top of that? Unbelievable. As if that wasn't enough, he’s out there expecting Nike to just go out and buy him a Mercedes. Total madness. 🤣 Even an Imotski native wouldn't have come up with something like this. 🤦
Are you kidding me? They blew the entire budget for Nika basketball on just one single player. Just to put that into perspective, they actually had enough cash on the table to sign guys like Barkley or Stockton too. So yeah, clearly this isn't exactly "small change" or some modest request...

Jose Morales2 said:Which docuseries are we talking about here? thanks 😉

The Last Dance—it's 10 episodes.

ironharbor45 said:Did you catch that onaj Mini dok series?

Yeah, I watched it—actually rewatched a few episodes a couple of times. It’s honestly great.

A decent, feel-good movie, I suppose.

Sister.

I'm definitely jumping on the bandwagon here... those two hours just flew by. Damon was absolutely insane

darkjackal70 said:They shouldn't have gone about it with that aggressive attitude Americans love to use.

It was a totally standard move. Given what kind of career Michael Jordan had before and how he proved himself after college, they had every right to make that demand. ☕

But back then, that wasn't how things worked. You couldn't just assume someone would become the best player in the world, no matter how much raw talent they showed as a kid. One injury and it's over. If that had happened, every other player would have started demanding those kinds of deals. This was basically the start of everything, and it's honestly impressive that his mother saw it coming.🍿

Grace Sanders24 said:Back then, that just wasn't how things worked. You couldn't simply look at a kid—no matter how much raw talent he had—and bet the house that he’d actually become the best player on the planet. One bad injury and it's game over. Period. If they had done it then, every other player would have been demanding those kinds of deals immediately. This was the absolute beginning of a whole new era, and honestly, it's wild to think about how his mother saw it coming before anyone else did.🍿

Look, we don't have access to every single contract Nike has ever signed with their roster, so we can't honestly claim that only Michael Jordan's mother had the foresight to spot an opportunity. Everyone loves to brag about one massive win, but nobody talks about how many times they missed the mark before that. The documentary nails this through the gambling metaphor: Nike basically went all-in on Michael Jordan, bet the house, and hit the jackpot. To me, the most fascinating part isn't even the deal itself—it’s the fact that Nike actually had elite talent in place to handle the marketing, management, and production side of things. But I guess that’s too boring for people to care about. Apparently, the only thing worth discussing is how some mother realized she could squeeze out a percentage. 🙄 Because apparently, nobody ever thought of that. 🤣

Ethan Davis34 said:Look, we don't have access to EVERY single contract Nike signed with EVERY athlete, so we can't claim that Jordan's mom was the only one who spotted an opportunity. Everyone loves to brag about one massive win, but we have no idea how many times they missed before that. The movie frames it perfectly using a gambling metaphor: Nike went all in on Jordan, and they hit the jackpot. To me, the most interesting part isn't even the deal itself—it's that Nike had top-tier talent handling the marketing, management, and production. But I guess that’s too boring to mention. People just want to focus on how someone's mom had the guts to ask for 🙄 when nobody else ever thought to 🤣

Obviously that wasn't the only cool part, but since I thought I knew everything about Jordan, that specific detail was what really grabbed me. 😉
I'd love to know if it's actually possible to tell if Jordan was the first pro athlete to land a deal like that, or if someone beat him to it. Maybe Bosti Jackson?🤔

Grace Sanders24 said:Sure, that wasn't the only interesting part, but for someone like me who thinks they know everything about Michael Jordan, that specific bit was the real kicker. I actually had no clue about that. 😉
I'm trying to figure out if it's even possible to confirm whether Michael Jordan was actually the first pro athlete to land a deal like that, or if someone beat him to the punch. Maybe it was Bo Jackson?🤔

Looks like Spencer Haywood was one of the first guys in basketball to land a deal like that. Before the era of massive endorsement deals, things were different. People forget that back in the day, players didn't have the leverage we see now. Take Spencer Haywood, for example. He was a trailblazer, period. He was actually the first player of such stature to sign with Nike, which changed the entire landscape for athlete endorsements. It wasn't just about the gear; it was about proving that a player's brand had real, measurable value in the eyes of a major corporation. I remember reading about how much friction this caused with the league. There was so much pushback regarding how players approached their business interests. But looking back, you can see how those early moves paved the way for the modern superstar. Without guys like him breaking down those doors, the massive contracts we see today wouldn't even exist. It’s a fundamental part of basketball history that often gets overlooked in favor of more recent legends.
It’s Nike again. It looks like that sales cut—or in Spencer's case, the stock options, if I caught that right—was the only leverage they had to actually compete with Adidas or Converse. It reminds me of how the Los Angeles Lakers operate when they can't pull together a massive salary for a player, so instead, they throw in a percentage of a future trade or transfer fee just to close the deal. If those two things are even remotely comparable. 😁 ).

Nowadays, Michael Jordan gives credit where it's due: he points back to Spencer Haywood for being the first player of such stature to sign with Nike, essentially clearing the path for the massive multi-billion-dollar empire that bears his name today.

That’s all you need to know about Michael's avant-garde mother. ☕

For anyone who actually enjoyed this flick and has a soft spot for those gritty sports dramas, I’d suggest checking out:
draft day (2014)

I can't quite put my finger on why, but I find myself circling back to this movie constantly. It’s got this persistent tension that just keeps you hooked, no matter how many times you sit through it...

Ethan Davis34 said:looks like Spencer Haywood was one of the first guys in basketball to land a deal like that https://boardroom.tv/spencer-haywood-nike-basketball/
it’s Nike again because apparently offering a cut of sales (or in Spencer's case, equity, if I got that right) was the only way they could actually compete with Adidas or Converse. It’s kind of like how the Los Angeles Lakers might offer a player a percentage of a future trade instead of a massive salary when they can't meet the numbers 😁.

"These days, Michael Jordan credits Spencer Haywood for being the first player of such stature to sign with Nike, paving the trail for his namesake multi-billion-dollar brand."

so much for Michael's forward-thinking mom ☕

Interesting. If I remember correctly, they even approached Magic Johnson, but he turned them down.
But man, if this is true, Spencer can brag to the moon about how close he came to being a billionaire! 🤣
I find it hard to believe his mom was really that ahead of her time with the financial stuff. Still, it feels a bit lazy that the movie gave her all the credit.

Surprisingly decent flick. For a minute there, you could actually argue they squeezed every bit of juice out of a pretty mediocre premise.

That opening 80s montage? Killer. If only the whole movie had stayed in that lane.

Matt Damon kills it, direction is alright, but the soundtrack feels a little lazy—just constant interludes of those obvious 80s hits shoved in there. It all kind of drags into mediocrity toward the end, which is why the score isn't higher.

6/10

Spoiler from IMDb:
Michael Jordan is portrayed by Damian Delano Young but his face is never clearly shown, either obscured or facing away from camera, and he only has a few lines of dialogue. The real Jordan can be seen throughout in archival footage. Director Ben Affleck stated he decided to portray Jordan this way because, "Michael Jordan is so famous that I truly felt if we ever saw an actor playing it would be hard to get the audience to suspend their disbelief, because, in my opinion, there's no convincing anybody that someone who isn't Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan."

goldenhound32 said:It's a pretty decent, feel-good movie.

Total classic.

Don't be stingy, give us more! 😁

Another solid flick from Affleck. The GOAT had a mother who was clearly the GOAT mom herself; the period setting was spot on, the acting was top-tier, and the soundtrack was excellent. Blister in the Sun. 😍

I'll probably just sketch him out today since I noticed he's available for free on Amazon Prime 👍

It’s an okay movie.

One of my main gripes—and I think someone already touched on this above—is the music. I don't mean the actual quality of the soundtrack or the sound engineering is bad; rather, it's the way they lean so heavily on pop culture references just to force a sense of nostalgia. They'll play nothing but hits from the 80s in certain scenes simply because that's when the film is set. It feels totally unnecessary...

In truth, this film doesn't even need those crutches. But I've noticed it's becoming a standard trope in almost every modern production set in the 70s, 80s, or 90s. I don't know about you all, but personally, I find it lazy and predictable.