“Michael Jordan paid $250,000 to Karla Knafel to keep their affair a secret from the public”: NBA75 legend once tried to hide his affair during his early Bulls championships

Michael Jordan paid Karla Knafel a quarter of a million dollars to keep their relationship a secret from the public eye. 

Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy had known one another since the former’s days as a UNC Tar Heel. After dating for several years, the two tied the knot in November of 1989. Their marriage however, wasn’t without some drama of its own. 

Most famously, Jordan wrote a 20-page letter to actress, Amy Hunter, prior to marrying Vanoy, apologizing for not being able to be in a relationship with her any longer, this was due to the fact that the woman he was going t marry was pregnant and so he was forced to cut off Hunter from his life.

Also read: “Michael Jordan wrote a 20-page love letter to Amy Hunter months before marrying Juanita Vanoy”: NBA75 legend’s infamous love letter sold at auction for more than $25,000

This letter sold for over $25,000 at an auction after selling for $2,000 many years before that. ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries did not tough up on Jordan’s personal life as the director of the show, Jason Hehir, did not want to delve down that path. 

Years after his affair with Amy Hunter, Michael Jordan would have yet another with a woman named Karl Knafel. 

Michael Jordan paid Knafel to keep their relationship a secret. 

2002 saw Karla Knafel try to extort about $5 million from Michael Jordan. It came to light that over a decade prior, her and Jordan were having an affair with one another in the early 90s and to keep their relationship a secret, the 6x champ paid her $250,000.

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10 years later and Knafel tried to get millions more from Jordan. He would go on to file a lawsuit against her and while he admitted to paying her a quarter of a million dollars, he had not paid a cent after that, according to the suit. 

A judge denied Knafel the $5 million he requested as a DNA test revealed her child was not Jordan’s. 

Juanita Jordan would go on to file for divorce citing irreconcilable differences in January of 2002 while also wanting custody of their 3 children.