A significant part of Michael Jordan’s life story will be on display on the silver screen this week in the film “Air” starring Matt Damon.
The film chronicles the origin of the Air Jordan, and Sonny Vaccaro’s pursuit to get the NBA legend to sign a sneaker deal with Nike. Damon stars as Vaccaro, and the Ben Affleck directed the film and played Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Damon and Vaccaro sat down with NESN’s George Balekji as part of their press tour, and the former’s Boston roots still were in the Academy Award winner, unlike other high-profile celebrities, who have wavered in their fandom.
Boston is the city of champions, and multiple athletes have built their legacies in the area across generations. It’s tough to narrow down which athletes would make for a great film because there’s so many to choose from. But Damon named his list, while also revealing his Boston sports Mount Rushmore, with the exception of Tom Brady.
“Why do I have to take Tom Brady out of it? That’s no fair,” Damon told Balekji. “There are a lot of great stories. If you just think of the Boston Mount Rushmore, Bill Russell, that would be a great story. Bobby Orr would be a great story. David Ortiz would be a great story. That’s my Rushmore, by the way. Everyone’s going to freak out and say Ted Williams isn’t on Rushmore. No guys, it’s David Ortiz for me. I love him.”
Brady’s an obvious choice for a life-story adaptation, and the former New England Patriots quarterback has his own production company to tell other stories, like John Madden’s. Plus, the future Hall of Famer did have “80 for Brady” come out this year, so there’s other stories out there that can be told.
Ortiz versus Williams as the Red Sox representative on a Boston sports Mount Rushmore is an interesting debate that’s sure to inspire sports radio talk and water-cooler discussions across the New England area.
