Overshadowed by Michael Jordan’s Fame, Son Jeffrey Shared a Lesser Known Fact About Mom Juanita in 2020: “I Was Always Searching For..a Way to Differentiate Myself”

What is it like being Michael Jordan’s son? Jeffrey Jordan, the eldest of the family revealed traits of his exacting famous father and the expectations that people set on him. Jeffrey did play basketball like his dad and was the former guard for the University of Illinois. But could the Michael Jordan tag eclipse him?

Jeffrey Jordan shared, “I was always searching for a new number or a way to differentiate myself“. The famous number 23 became synonymous with the Chicago Bulls legend. Jeffrey admitted to playing around with 23’s digits for his high school basketball.

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When he started playing for Illinois, he embraced his mother’s jersey number. Jeffrey was made aware before going to college that his mother too played basketball. Her jersey number was 13. Juanita, his mother, was born on 13 June 1959. Jeffrey knew that 13 was a lucky number for his mother, and wanted to channel this good faith while playing basketball.

So the son of Michael Jordan donned the number 13 on his back. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the luck he probably hoped for, as he couldn’t make it to the NBA.

Michael Jordan and his family

However, Jeffrey commended his mother for ensuring a semblance of normalcy among all the fame. He remembers the spotlight and publicity, but mother Juanita never made them forget their roots. And she made it clear that her children would be, “successful individuals, not just successful children of Michael Jordan”.

Jeffrey also was grateful that his dad recognized the grand expectations people had for him and his siblings.

Currently, he works to expand the Jordan Brand after a brief internship stint at Nike. He also partnered up with his siblings for the Heir Jordan Foundation.

The 6x NBA champion got married to Juanita Vanoy in 1989. They co-parent three children together following a divorce settlement in 2022. In 2013, Juanita said that both of them are on amicable terms and mostly their conversations are about the children.

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Jordan is currently married to Yvette Prieto and has since welcomed twins with her.