Fans went wild for ESPN's recent Michael Jordan docuseries, The Last Dance, which chronicled the NBA superstar's dominant basketball career, gambling habits, leadership style and more. However, some viewers on social media raised questions about the seeming exclusion of Jordan's family life.
The six-time NBA champion and five-time league MVP was married to his first wife, Juanita, from 1989-2006, encompassing much of his professional career. However, there was little mention of Juanita, or the couple's three children, Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine, in the show.
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Jasmine joined Essence for a Facebook Live chat this week, where she opened up about The Last Dance and her mother's exclusion.
"At the end of the day, if you’d ask my mom, she lived it. There’s no need to go down memory lane and bring up everything that has already happened when the proof is in the pudding," Jasmine noted.
"She was at the championship. She was at the retirement ceremony," she continued. "We saw her in her glory… so no, I don’t think there’s a need to rehash and go through it all. She already lived it."
Jordan retired from the NBA in 2003 and married longtime girlfriend Yvette Prieto in 2013. The two welcomed twin daughters, Ysabel and Victoria, in February 2014.
While Jasmine was just 10 years old when her father played his final NBA game, she said she admires the authentic self her dad portrayed in The Last Dance, and the way he taught his children to carry themselves the same way.
“He’s always himself. No matter what… my father is always going to be true to who he is and mastering his craft,” she said, when asked about the greatest lesson Jordan passed down to his kids. “He always trickled down and made sure to say, ‘Hey! You gotta be yourself, boo. You’ve gotta be authentic. You’ve gotta be genuine. Your power is within who you are and that’s something that can’t be taken away.”
See more on The Last Dance in the video below.
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