Film: Ben Affleck on bringing his new movie Air to life

But director and producer Ben Affleck, who also stars in the film, knew the project wouldn't go ahead without his blessing.

"If he said don't do it, I just was going to not do it. That would be that, over, last conversation," admits Affleck, who went to visit Jordan, now 60, in Florida where the NBA hero lives (the pair reportedly ended up discussing the plans over a round of golf).

"I was very, very prepared for that to be the result of that [meeting], because I had no reason to think that he would be open to it or that he would welcome it. Particularly since it wasn't 'the Michael Jordan story', where they had bought his rights and that sort of thing, which I would think might be discomforting."

Thankfully, Jordan was in favour of the project, which sees Affleck once again team up with long-time friend and collaborator Matt Damon (they famously shared their big break in 1997's Good Will Hunting, which they co-wrote and starred in), who also serves as a producer and stars in the film. But their meeting wasn't just about getting the thumbs-up.

As Affleck puts it, attempting to make Air without Jordan's input would have been "the stupidest thing in the world". During their exchange, the retired athlete revealed details the filmmaker would otherwise never have known, ultimately shaping the direction of the narrative.

"He was very gracious," Affleck, 50, recalls. "When I said, look - this is not a historically accurate [movie], in the sense that I can't dot every I and cross every T, what time every phone call was made. This is going to have to be something of a fable, a parable, an inspiring story, so I'm going to take liberties in order to make it an hour and 30/40 minutes.

"But I don't want to violate anything that's fundamentally important or true to you - so if you would please tell me what those things are, I promise you, they'll be sacrosanct."

What was "telling" in Jordan's response was that "he wasn't somebody who was like, well, we've got to talk about why I did this, and I did that, which there are people who take that approach," the director continues. "He was talking about other people. He wants to make sure that other people who were meaningful were included in the story."

These people included George Raveling, one of Jordan's coaches at the 1984 Olympics (played by Respect's Marlon Wayans), and Howard White (played by Rush Hour's Chris Tucker), a former player and a colleague of Nike's resident basketball guru, Sonny Vaccaro (played by Matt Damon). Affleck plays Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight, while the cast also features Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Nike's VP of marketing, and Chris Messina as David Falk, Jordan's agent.

Perhaps the two most important people in the picture, however, were Jordan's mother and father - Deloris and James Jordan. Affleck admits that until he heard the basketball legend talking about their part in the story, he'd anticipated a very different plot.

"It was this moment, where I saw the awe and reverence and respect and adoration and love when he talked about his mother, and it just shocked me," explains Affleck. "And shame on me for not kind of assuming this was the case, but when I heard it, I realised right away, this is the story.

"And it's a beautiful story. It's a story about Deloris Jordan and what she means to Michael. And that she's emblematic of what so many mothers must have meant to so many athletes and entertainers and people in this business, who are oftentimes very young and thrust into a world of fame and money. And that can be confusing, it must require an enormous about of guidance.

"And so I thought, actually, this is brilliant. This is what the story is."

Air brings to life how this was about so much more than the rise of a young sports star and a jackpot marketing move.

While brands teaming up with athletes may be embedded in consumer and sports culture now, back in the mid-1980s when the Air Jordan collab began, it was a different matter.

Nike was struggling, and Jordan was an untested NBA rookie. The shoe deal was a gamble - which eventually paid off big time, as Jordan, of course, went on to become known as the greatest player of all time.

Behind the scenes was a mother fighting for fair recognition and compensation for her son, whose talent underpinned everything. And Deloris' dedication didn't just change things for Jordan; she changed the landscape for all athletes.

Affleck says The Woman King's Julius Tennon was the "perfect person" to play James Jordan, whom Jordan described as having "the best personality in the world". As for who would play Deloris...

"I said offhandedly - which is always a mistake - who do you think should play your mom? And he says, it has to be Viola Davis," Affleck recalls, laughing. "That's like saying, can I get a basketball team together? Sure - it has to be Michael Jordan.

"But then I thought, you know, this is very typical of who this guy is. It has to be the very best, absolutely. So, I knew that it was incumbent on us to create a role that was worthy of Viola."

Working with Davis had already "been a lifelong career ambition of mine", Affleck says, admitting he felt "I really will have made it as a director" if she came on board.

So, how did Davis feel about being personally requested by Jordan to play his mother? One thing's for sure - it didn't take away from the challenge at hand.

"But it is flattering," says The Help and The Woman King star, 57. "Because I do go in with a sense of 'do I belong?' imposter syndrome. So, it's nice to feel wanted.

"But then the next thought is, now I've got to step into the role. And if you watch videos of Deloris Jordan, she is a study in Zen neutrality. The woman is very, very steady and quiet. I mean, I would imagine that even when she gets mad, she's probably very, very steady," Davis adds, laughing.

"So to really envelop that spirit and everything was a challenge for me, because I'm the woman who always has a chip on their shoulder, I go in bombastic, you know?

"So it was both flattering, challenging, and then just a joy to work with Matt and Ben and all these terrific actors. Me and Julius still talk about it to this day. It was one of the greatest experiences."

Air is in cinemas now.