In Legends and Soles, Sonny Vaccaro, in collaboration with 11-time Emmy-award winner and six-time New York Times bestselling author Armen Keteyian, peels back the layers of sensational media stories and headlines, providing an unvarnished look at his pivotal role not only in Michael Jordan's ascent as arguably the world's most famous-and richest-athlete, but Vaccaro's other consequential relationships, including those with Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. He reflects on the crushing disappointments, as well, detailing the shocking eleventh hour betrayal by Adidas that led to the loss of a then-18-year-old phenom, LeBron James. He describes reaching a career-defining "inflection point" where he abandoned the shoe industry entirely to pursue his advocacy of athlete's rights bringing readers into the tense, landscape-altering nine-year drama behind the O'Bannon federal lawsuit that changed the face of college sports.Considered basketball's ultimate insider, Vaccaro remains a formidable, passionate voice in the worlds of sports marketing and collegiate sports. His visionary promotional innovations-beginning with the signing of college coaches to Nike endorsement deals followed by the signing of Jordan, revolutionized sports marketing. An outspoken advocate for the rights of athletes, he was the catalyst behind the landmark Supreme Court decision giving control of Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) rights to tens of thousands of college athletes, recently affirmed by the historic $2.8 billion settlement by the NCAA and major conferences opening the door to fair compensation for the real stars-the athletes themselves. Recently he was the central character in the hit movie Air, directed by Ben Affleck and starring Matt Damon as Sonny, exploring a four-month snapshot of his extraordinary eight-decade life. Vaccaro, still an affable and outspoken personality, resides on the West Coast with his wife, Pam. "There have been literally thousands of stories written and broadcast about me over the years," said Vaccaro, "but this time the story is being told by the only person capable of setting the record straight-about Michael, getting blindsided when Phil Knight fired me, my battles with the NCAA, the seminal O'Bannon lawsuit, and many other personal revelations even my closest friends don't know. And I've got the documents to back up every last word." This memoir is far from a recounting of events; rather it's the never-before-told journey of a middle-class kid from a small steel town in western Pennsylvania who rose to the top of a mountain-a rich, revealing tapestry of relationships, triumphs, and challenges through the world of sports, business, and culture told by a man at the epicenter of it all, at Nike and beyond. With a 16-page photo insert illuminating some of Vaccaro's most treasured career memories, Legends and Soles is the long-awaited memoir of a giant of American sports.


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