On Episode 163 of the Ballislife In The Paint Show, hosts Ronnie Flores, Ani Umana and Chelsea Hopkins welcome special guest Sonny Vaccaro to talk about the making, background and detail of the recently released movie \"Air: Courting of a Legend\". The former Sports Marketing Executive and Grassroots basketball event czar goes into detail about his role in convincing Nike boss Phil Knight to go all in to sign budding basketball star Michael Jordan to a unique endorsement deal while turning pro in 1984.<\/p>\n
Vaccaro, whose maverick marketing ideas for Jordan in a signature shoe revolutionzed sports marketing and American sports culture, dishes on how he initially hooked up with Nike to lead their basketball marketing efforts, talks about whom deserves credit during the courting of Jordan and candidly speaks on not knowing how the mock sneaker would turn out or just how wildly successful the Jordan Brand would become after the historic endorsement deal.<\/p>\n
Vaccaro also gives some detail on his relationship with George Raveling (the best man at his wedding to wife Pam), the background leading up to his working relationship with Nike, and talks about the star-studded cast of \"Air\".<\/p>\n
The ITP Crew gives their reactions to the interview and the movie and what they learned from both. Ani gives his perspective from just how big the grassroots basketball space has grown from the birthing of the Air Jordan, Chelsea gives her perspective from the growth of the sneaker industry and Nike's rise to dominance and Ron dishes on the background of Vaccaro from a fledgling national all-star game promoter in 1965 to being the go-to person for college coaches and parents trying to navigate through the grassroots ecosystem.<\/p>\n
The ITP Crew also give their prediction of the upcoming NBA Finals and what the L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics are going to have to do to be in contention in the near future. Will Chelsea's Miami Heat prediction come to fruition? Is Denver just too strong for Miami as Ani and Ron predict? Will LeBron be on the Lakers when he plays with Bronny? Will he eventually play with Bronny in a NBA game? Do the Celtics need wholesale changes, or just a more experienced coach?<\/p>\n
The ITP Crew also touches on the issue of star players' seasons being deemed a \"failure\" without a championship, the media-player dynamic and how its changed over the years, and the shrinking window for successful coaches.<\/p>\n
Even veteran observers can learn plenty about Jordan, Nike, and the grassroots basketball marketing machine in this latest ITP pod, so make sure to tune in to Episode 163 from start to finish!<\/p>\n
(0:00) - Intro<\/p>\n
(3:54) - Hot Takes on Denver-Miami NBA Final <\/p>\n
(8:03) - Do Celtics Need to Break Up Their Core?<\/p>\n
(14:53) - Lakers: Where Do They Go From Here?<\/p>\n
(20:49) - \u201cAir\u201d Movie Intro & Players Meeting Expectations <\/p>\n
(30:27) - 2023 NBA Finals Predictions <\/p>\n
(36:26) - ITP Crew Instant Reaction to \u201cAir\u201d <\/p>\n
(44:19) - Background on Sonny Vaccaro<\/p>\n
(48:20) - Sonny Vaccaro Interview <\/p>\n
(50:22) - Vaccaro on Athletes\u2019 Rights & Fair Share<\/p>\n
(52:58) - Vaccaro on Why He Would Have Paid Players<\/p>\n
(54:02) - Vaccaro on Connecting with Nike<\/p>\n
(57:52) - Vaccaro on Rob Strasser & Peter Moore<\/p>\n
(1:00:05) - Vaccaro on Building Nike\u2019s Hoops Division <\/p>\n
(1:02:50) - Vaccaro on Meeting w\/Jordan\u2019s Parents<\/p>\n
(1:04:06) - Vaccaro on Famous Tony Roma Meeting<\/p>\n
(1:07:06) - Vaccaro on the Air Jordan Design\u00a0<\/p>\n
(1:13:41) - Vaccaro on Early Air Jordan Marketing<\/p>\n
(1:17:17) - Reaction & Lessons From Sonny Interview <\/p>\n
(1:28:35) - Nike\u2019s Unique Approach Working<\/p>\n
(1:30:58) - What if Sonny Stays w\/Nike?<\/p>\n
(1:33:53) - Is Grassroots System Killing Next Air?<\/p>\n
(1:36:44) - Adidas: Courting Kobe & Losing Him\u00a0<\/p>\n
(1:43:50) - All in on the Air Jordan\u00a0<\/p>\n
(1:45:32) - Courting LeBron: Risk vs. Reward<\/p>\n
(1:51:32) - Is Wembanyama That Guy?\u00a0
\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm\/adchoices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Episode 163 of the Ballislife In The Paint Show, hosts Ronnie Flores, Ani Umana and Chelsea Hopkins… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-270948","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n