Being the children of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time sounds great. But it comes the insecurity of never being good enough to live up to your parents’ greatness. Even if Michael Jordan’s three children from his marriage with Juanita Vanoy didn’t compare themselves to their dad, the media certainly put all of them under a very public microscope.
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“There are pros and cons, right? It’s a gift and a curse, and the pros always outweigh the bad,” is how Jordan’s son Jeffrey put it on the Hoops to Homes series hosted by Horace Grant Jr. According to Jeffrey, the Jordan kids had to establish a strong foundation and connection with their family because dealing with the their father’s stardom was challenging.
“[Your siblings] may be a little different than you, but they are going to have similar experiences, and those are going to be the only people you can turn to,” Jeffery said, before detailing how restrictive his childhood was.
Horace Grant Jr., who grew up with Jeffery and his brother Marcus, recalled how Vanoy was the poster mom for helicopter parenting. Even though the three Jordan kids sometimes felt her methods were quite limiting, Jeffery thanks their mother for keeping them on the right path.
“Mom was definitely protective, as she should have been. Looking back now, we were making playdates until high school … Mid high school … she wanted to talk to the moms and make sure everything was okay. So, definitely had some restrictions, but looking back as an adult, seeing my friends who have kids, obviously, it makes a lot of sense,“ he admitted.
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It certainly appears that the kids are doing alright. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Illinois with a psychology major and currently works on the business aspect of the game.
Marcus graduated from the University of Florida and opened Trophy Room, a high-end sneaker store at Walt Disney World Resort’s Disney Springs shopping district, which has since gone completely online.
MJ’s daughter Jasmine has always been involved in her dad’s business. She worked as a field representative for the marketing department of Nike’s Jordan line and later joined Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets basketball team as an operations coordinator. Jasmine became a mom in 2019 after giving birth to Rakeem Michael, making MJ a first-time grandparent.
While they might have had restrictive childhoods, always living under the shadow of their famous father, it doesn’t seem like anybody’s complaining!
