Michael Jordan altered the script for the film about the rise of his iconic Nike sneakers, the movie's screenwriter has revealed.
Air: Courting a Legend, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, as well as Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans and Chris Tucker, documents the story of how Nike were able to knock of both Adidas and Converse to tie Jordan to an exclusive shoe deal which changed the game.
The Air Jordan range has earned both the Chicago Bulls icon and Nike an absolute fortune ever since a lucrative deal was struck back in the 1980's.
Jordan himself does not feature in the entirety of the 112 minute film - with Damian Delano Young playing the six-time NBA champion but his face not being shown.
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However, the 60-year-old did give his blessing to the film after meeting with Affleck and even compiled a list of notes.
But he was able to make a change in the script of the film. Tinker Hatfield, Nike's Vice President for Design and Special Projects, designed a number of versions of the Jordan trainers but the 70-year-old was omitted as Jordan felt his initial role didn't warrant an appearance.
"Look, I wasn’t in on that conversation, but from talking to Ben and hearing his breakdown of the meeting, it was exactly what you said," Alex Convery told Hollywood Reporter in an in-depth chat.
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"There were three requests: George Raveling needs to be in the movie. Howard White needs to be in the movie. There was actually a fourth thing. We had Tinker Hatfield as a character in the original script, but he didn’t really design Air Jordans until the Jordan 3. He was technically an employee of Nike at the time, and I just thought it would be fun to have Tinker Hatfield around. But Jordan was like, "Tinker wasn’t really involved in the first Jordan,' so we took him out of the script."
There was another key demand from the NBA sensation as he was adamant that Davis, star of How To Get Away With Murder and Oscar and Emmy winner, needed to play his mother Deloris.
Speaking to NBA, Affleck recalled: “I was like, ‘Mike, you just can’t get Viola Davis.’
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"He was like ‘nope’. So I had to get her. Thank goodness she said yes. I was very happy I was able to do that.
"He didn’t have a whole laundry list. He left it at that. It was important that I honor that."
Critics have reviewed the film positively, with a 7.8 rating on IMDB. It has grossed over $34 million worldwide since it hit the cinemas last month.
Topics: Michael Jordan, NBA, Basketball, Chicago Bulls
Josh Lawless