?He Hadn?t Been Married Yet..?: Days After First Born Son?s Birth, Michael Jordan Made a Special Request to the Media

Michael Jordan?met Juanita Vanoy, his first wife, in 1984. It was the year when Jordan was picked in the NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. So Juanita was part of the Jordan phenomenon from the beginning of his NBA journey. From his first season on, His Airness had captured the attention of all. In short, as history has seen, it was tough for the NBA community to take their eyes off the eventual six-time champion. As the fame around him grew, his private life with Juanita came into the limelight. Amidst this growing media frenzy, a prominent incident in his personal life led him to make a special request to the media at the time.

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Jordan?s power was felt beyond the court. While he managed to influence an entire generation, he was also able to establish some control over the media. The six-time Finals MVP was conscious of his image, to the point where the media on several occasions bowed down to his requests. An old ESPN documentary depicts the power he had over the media – a power that drove organizations to even protect Jordan. In this documentary, journalists highlighted instances when they respected and protected the NBA legend.?

Michael Jordan and his special request to the media

In 1988, after four years of being together, Juanita and Jordan welcomed their first child. Following this, Jordan rang up the media and made a request. In the documentary, a journalist revealed the details of this request. They said, ?When his first child was born, he hadn?t been married yet. He says to a couple of beat writers, including me, ?I really would appreciate it if you didn?t put that in the newspaper.??

While the birth of his firstborn was a moment of celebration, the baby arrived out of wedlock. As this was something that society frowned upon at the time, to protect his image and avoid public hate, Jordan reached out to the media.?

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The journalist further added that everyone responded to this request positively. He said, ?We just simply protect him because he asked us and because we were concerned as well about what the public reaction would be.??A year after this, Jordan and Juanita tied the knot and were married for 17 years before filing for divorce in 2006.?

The harsh side of the media

Despite having some control, some media organizations hampered Jordan?s image. For instance, they rushed to investigate and make claims about his tendency to gamble. They declared that Jordan was addicted to gambling and claimed that his father was murdered because Jordan owed money to people.?

The police subsequently declared Jordan?s father?s case as a robbery, while the NBA investigated Jordan?s gambling tendency. Notably, the league announced that no wrongdoings were noted and that the Hall of Famer was not going overboard. Hence, MJ experienced both sides of the media and continues to do so today.?

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