“Everybody Wants a Piece of Michael”: Keeping Up with Michael Jordan Would Be a Struggle for Ex-Wife Juanita, Predicted Father James Long Before His Marriage

While Michael Jordan had a legendary basketball career, the six-time NBA champion’s off-court life wasn’t as smooth. MJ’s ex-wife, Juanita Vanoy was there with him throughout the most successful phase of his life. The couple got married in 1989 and had three kids. However, things didn’t end well and they got divorced after 17 years together.

The ’90s was the decade of Jordan. He became a global icon and people everywhere were willing to give up everything just to glimpse the great one. Throughout this phase, Juanita was there to support her husband. However, MJ’s father, James had predicted long before the couple’s marriage that anyone would struggle to keep up with ‘His Airness’.

Michael Jordan credited his father for who he went on to become. He clearly had a huge impact on MJ. During the early years of MJ’s career in the NBA, his father admitted that everyone wanted a piece of his son. He said, “Everybody wants a little piece of Michael.”

He also revealed that it would take a special type of woman to keep up with his son. “It would take a really strong woman to marry him now and live a type of life he has to live and feel like she’s being treated fairly“, James said. While it may have been too demanding, it proved to be right as MJ became one of the most popular names on the planet.

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MJ and Juanita had already been dating during the time of that interview. They would eventually go on to marry in 1989. Every sports person has a very particular lifestyle and it becomes difficult to maintain personal relationships.

Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy had a very public divorce

While MJ retired three times from the NBA, his wife was always there with him. However, retirement apparently didn’t suit the Chicago Bulls legend. Vanoy had initially filed for divorce in 2002 but the couple tried to work things out. Eventually, they couldn’t reconcile and they announced their split in 2006.

According to reports, Vanoy received $168 million in the divorce settlement. It is still one of the largest celebrity divorce settlements of all time. Jordan quickly moved on and married model Yvette Prieto in 2013. A few months later, Prieto gave birth to twin daughters.

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Jordan had a storybook career on the court of basketball. However, off the court, things were quite different.