Dealing with life as a world-famous superstar isn’t always easy, especially when it comes to dealing with family. Michael Jordan was protective of what he let his children find out about him when they were younger, as his daughter, Jasmine, revealed on The New Norm with Serena Hill. For the majority of her adolescence, Jasmine was completely unaware of her father’s status.
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Born in 1992, Jasmine joined the Jordan family following the Bulls’ second championship. But she never knew the magnitude of what she was experiencing while watching MJ dominate in his prime. It wasn’t until much later in his career that Jasmine realized watching her dad play was more than just a family outing.
The 32-year-old was once completely naive to MJ’s superstardom, even when she was constantly attending Bulls games and hearing comments from her classmates about how lucky she was. “I’m like, ‘How do you guys know my dad? You’re not at my house; you’re not coming over. Where are you guys getting this from?” Jasmine recalled in 2020.
Eventually, she had the idea to Google her father’s name, and then everything began to click. She approached the Bulls icon about his celebrity status, only for Jordan to give her a valid reason for keeping his children in the dark.
“[Jordan] just laughed and was like, ‘Look, you know this is a part of my life that I kinda wanted to protect you guys from… And let you guys come into it on your own and in your own way on your own terms,'” Jasmine shared her father’s words. “I appreciate him and my mother doing that because if we were exposed to it in such a crazy way and that young of an age, we really wouldn’t have understood.”
As a result, Jasmine and her brothers were able to experience at least a bit more of an average childhood. She explained how she was able to explore the city of Chicago while also learning about both of her parents’ origins. Had she known of her father’s fame, those experiences may have not turned out the same.