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On December 7, 1992, Michael Jordan and former wife Juanita Vanoy had their third kid and only daughter, Jasmine Jordan. MJ, by this time, was an NBA champ and already made his Air Jordans a big part of sneaker culture.
MJ set himself apart from the competition not only with his skills but also with his fiercely competitive nature. In the house, that edge even reached out to his children.
Here’s what Jasmine had to say in an interview with The Undefeated about Michael Jordan's insane drive not to give in to rivals:
“The funny thing is, as a kid, I was rocking a lot of Skechers, which was not OK in my father’s eyes. I used to beg him, ‘Please, let me get the light-up Skechers!’ Or the shoes with the wheels. He would let me wear them for a day, then the next day they would end up in the trash."
She added:
“It didn’t matter what pair they were. It didn’t matter who bought them. If they were in his house and they were on my feet, by the next day, they were in the trash.”
Eventually, the father forced his daughter to see the light. She came to love the Jordans:
“I definitely was in 1s a lot. And a silhouette I didn’t realize I wore a lot was the 5s. I really enjoyed 5s when I was younger and the colors we did in those. I still love my 5s. But before those, I was loving Skechers.”
Former NBA players sharing their Michael Jordan stories is another thing. Hearing it from one of his children only just gives a perspective on how driven the “Air Jordan” was.
Jeffrey Jordan, Marcus Jordan and Jasmine Jordan have all been heavily involved in the Jordan Line over the years.
Michael Jordan’s daughter didn’t know how famous her father was early in life
Michael Jordan’s god-like status in the basketball world was something alien to his children during their early years. He and Vanoy sought to keep them out of the limelight for as much as possible.
In a Good Morning America interview in 2020, Jasmine Jordan narrated this to say regarding her knowledge of her father’s fame:
"I had kids and teachers and stuff at school telling me 'It's incredible your father is who he is.' And I'm thinking you all haven't met my father to my knowledge, how do you know this? So I did, I Googled him. And I found a lot clearly.
"But between him and my mom, they made sure that we felt like he was normal as can be and we grew up very normal and for that I'm grateful."
The Chicago Bulls legend's kids with his former wife are now somewhat celebrities in their rights. They still, however, are not even on the same planet as their father when it comes to fame and popularity.
