Why Michael Jordan isn't in the new film about Michael Jordan

Ben Affleck has explained why Michael Jordan doesn't appear in his latest film, Air, which is all about the NBA legend's famous Nike shoes.

Recently people have been looking back at some of the things they did three years ago, during the initial Covid-19 lockdown, with the memories coming flooding back.

One of the standout bits of television that we could all enjoy to take our minds off the shoddy way we all had to live back then was Netflix's 'The Last Dance.'

The docuseries gave us incredible insight into the Chicago Bulls' title winning side of 1997/98, and taught us more about Jordan, even if he was accused of being a liar.

As well as creating a bunch of memes, and some dreadful comparisons to literally every other sport, it showed us the competitive streak Jordan needed to be as good as he was.

However, the series didn't tell us everything about the six time NBA champion but now we've got a way to get more insight, thanks to the new film 'Air.'

Directed, and starring Affleck, the film tells the story of how the basketball star and Nike came together to create the Air Jordan range that continues to be iconic to this day.

Weirdly though, there isn't a single moment of MJ in the entire 112 minute film, and the director has explained why that is.

"I did not ever plan on it, because I never thought for a second—hey, Michael is so magnificent, so famous, the whole reason why he represents and means what he does in terms of greatness and excellence, is because he’s so, so enigmatic and majestic and identifiable immediately, by his carriage and demeanor and what we’ve seen him do physically," he explained in a Q&A session.

"The one sure way to ruin the movie and have the audience understand that the whole thing is a fraud is to point the camera at anybody that’s not Michael Jordan and say, ‘Hey, that’s Michael Jordan!'"

Jordan is considered by many as the greatest of all time in the NBA. Image: Alamy

Not having him in the film wasn't the only decision that the boss of the film, who plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight in the film, considered.

Affleck revealed he spoke to Jordan about why he couldn't play himself, adding, "The only person who could play Michael Jordan, as I’ve said to him, is too old now to play Michael Jordan."

At 60-years-old, the former Bulls star was certainly far too old to play a rookie version of himself, who first made an NBA appearance in 1984.

However, he was still able to have a say in the film, with Jordan demanding that if the film were to be made then Viola Davis had to play his mother, something Affleck made sure happened.