It’s been seven years since Ben Affleck last sat in the director’s chair for a movie. This time, he’s the filmmaker behind Air, where he directs himself and longtime buddy Matt Damon as the men who made the Air Jordans happen. Ahead of the 2023 new movie release arriving to theaters soon, Affleck has revealed a friendship that emerged in real life between himself and Michael Jordan.
When Ben Affleck was asked about how he approached Michael Jordan about telling the story about how he struck a deal with Nike for the legendary shoe line, the actor/filmmaker revealed he has a relationship with the former NBA basketball player. In his words:
I periodically play cards sometimes with Michael, and we’ve got mutual friends, and … None of it sounds good, OK? And it’s not like he’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, Ben’s my boy’ (Imitating Jordan’s voice.) He’d be like, ‘Yeah, I know him.’ Jordan is — he’s a hero to me. And I know how important and meaningful a figure he is, in particular in the African American community. If you’re going to fuck around with talking about Michael Jordan, do it respectfully. Nobody’s asking you to do a hagiography, but get it fucking right.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck revealed that he has played some games with the sports icon, along with sharing how much Michael Jordan means to him personally. As Affleck continued:
I’ve never known anybody with that kind of charisma and power who walks into a room and it just reverberates. And is it him or is it the way people treat him? Is it your memories of him? I don’t know, but it’s powerful. I said, ‘Please, can I come out?’ And he was great. ‘Yeah, no problem. Come to the golf course.’ Went out, met with him. I waited for him to finish playing. I don’t golf myself. Because I just feel like it eats people’s lives up.
Release Date: April 5, 2023
Directed By: Ben Affleck
Written By: Alex Convery
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Damian Delano Young
Air premiered at SXSW this week to impressed critics who expressed that Ben Affleck’s fifth directorial effort is a “slam dunk” for him. The movie follows Matt Damon as shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro as he pitches the idea of Michael Jordan getting into the shoe business to co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight, played by Affleck.
Affleck has also shared that he sat down with Michael Jordan prior to getting cameras rolling on Air because he wanted to ask him first. Clearly things went over well between them, except for the fact that Affleck declined his offer to play golf together. During their conversations, Jordan also requested that Viola Davis play his mother in Air, and Jordan got the exact actress he wanted for the portrayal!
Along with Affleck meeting with Michael Jordan ahead of making Air, he got to reunite with his good friend Matt Damon after previously sharing the screen in multiple movies, which of course includes Good Will Hunting, which the pair wrote and starred in together and put them both on the map in a big way. In 2021, they recently paired up for Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel.
When speaking to his most recent experience working with Damon, Affleck called it the “best work experience of my life” especially thanks to having the fellow actor by his side again. Affleck also received some help from wife and superstar Jennifer Lopez in regards to being schooled on fashion history in the context of the movie. You can see Ben Affleck’s Air when it hits theaters on April 5.
