While Michael Jordan's children may be missing from ESPN's The Last Dance, they're making moves off-screen, especially his 27-year-old daughter Jasmine Jordan. The youngest child of Jordan and his ex-wife of 17 years, Juanita Vanoy, was born on December 7, 1992. She has two older brothers named Jeffrey and Marcus.
She credits her childhood in the Chicago suburbs for expanding her worldview and leveling her with her peers. "Oddly enough, it really proved that we weren't really that different," she said to InStyle. "Except my dad was doing what he did, and their parents were doing something different."
Jasmine Googled her dad to learn more about him.
In an interview on TODAY alongside her other siblings, she spilled the details on when she realized just how important her dad was. "I was like 10, 11 years old when I finally just Googled him and was trying to understand why everyone was so obsessed, why everyone didn't think he just had a regular job like I did," she said on the morning show. "It definitely took a minute for it to hit me, but no joke, I Googled him and was like, 'OK, now I get it.'"
Unlike her brothers, Jasmine never played basketball.
Growing up, she participated in sports such as dance, volleyball, and even flag football. But when it came to basketball, it just didn't click. "I tried basketball very briefly, but both my dad and I knew that it was not for me," she said to InStyle. "But during that time, I was able to take away who my father was to everyone else, and that for sure brought us closer; to this day, I still identify as daddy's girl."
Jasmine is super involved in the Jordan brand.
While she may not be on the court, Jasmine is always behind the scenes. She studied sports management at Syracuse University, and shortly after college became one of the most influential people off the court.
She works with the Jordan Brand athletes playing for the Charlotte Hornets, which her father owns. Whether that's making sure the players she represents have their sneakers, apparel, and basically everything they need to get through a season. She's also in charge of scheduling appearances, photoshoots, and any other kind of media coverage.
While her older brother Marcus, who also works for the Jordan Brand, likes to kick it at the main office in Portland, Oregon, Jasmine is continuously traveling between Charlotte and Portland, according to InStyle.
Jasmine recently became a mom.
When she was studying sports management at Syracuse University, she met Rakeem Christmas. They were each other's first friends at school, but feelings quickly changed after Christmas entered the NBA draft and they both graduated from school.
"They were both nervous, and just awkwardly sitting there not knowing what to ask, which made me step in and break the ice," said Jasmine to InStyle on Christmas meeting her father. "Nowadays, they're almost like best friends, and it's kind of gross, but I'm happy that it was smooth sailing, and it's been great ever since."
The couple announced they were engaged in June 2018. Less than a year later, they had a baby boy, Rakeem Michael Christmas, in May 2019, who's Jordan's first grandchild.
I wonder how many mini Jordans he got for his birthday...?
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