Sonny Vaccaro

John Paul Vaccaro (born 23 September 1939 in Trafford, Pennsylvania) is an American former sports marketing executive.

Vaccaro is probably best known for his tenure with Nike, Inc., and signed Michael Jordan to his first sneaker deal. Vaccaro left Nike for Adidas, then Reebok. [cite web|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00A12F73A5B0C778EDDAF0894DF404482&n=Top%2fNews%2fBusiness%2fCompanies%2fNike%20Inc%2e|title=Marketing All-Star is Ready to Relax] He founded the ABCD All America Camp, an elite showcase of high school basketball standouts, which ran from 1984 to 2007. It featured future stars Kobe Bryant, Sebastian Telfair, and LeBron James. [cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/05/AR2007070502040_pf.html|title=Camps Turn To Skills, Rather Than Thrills] Vaccaro organized his first basketball event in 1965 in Pittsburgh. [cite web|url=http://www.abqmag.com/magazine/2004/2nd_Quarter/m_reebok_grassroots.php|title=The Grassroots Godfather]

James Gandolfini is slated to play Vaccaro in an upcoming HBO movie "ABCD Camp" [cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/tv/5051895.html|title=James Gandolfini to play sports promoter Sonny Vaccaro ]

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