Sonny Vaccaro

About

He was an early executive at Nike, landing a famous agreement with Michael Jordan for Michael's first-ever sneaker deal. He also started an influential basketball camp called ABCD Camp which was once attended by LeBron James. 

Before Fame

He graduated from  Reedley College in 1958.  Many years later the school would honor him as a distinguished alum. 

Trivia

A movie inspired by his Nike career was released in 2023 called Air, the film was directed by Ben Affleck. ESPN also produced a documentary about his career called Sole Man. 

Family Life

He married Pam Monakee.  

Associated With

While employed by Nike, he worked under Phil Knight who founded the company.  After he retired from working for major shoe companies, he became critical of the system.