Michael Jordan wants son to ‘be his own person’

That his son Jeff, turning 19-years-old later this month, has chosen to pursue collegiate basketball is inconsequential to Michael Jordan.  In an interview with the Today show, Michael told Matt Lauer that he admires the path Jeff — a freshman walk-on player at the University of Illinois — has taken to get to where he is as a person, not just as a basketball player. 

I want him to be his own person, you know?  I want him to enjoy his life, whatever he chooses to be, you know?  If you play basketball, you’re a doctor, you’re a lawyer, whatever, I’m gonna support you with the love and every effort, every inch of my body.

He wants to be a basketball player, but he wants to do it on his own terms, which is all cool for me.  The thing that we have tried to tell Jeff is that you set your own expectations.  By no means in this world can you ever live up to someone else’s expectations of who you are…He wants to be his own person, which I admire.

Jeff — the oldest of Michael’s three children with ex-wife Juanita, including Marcus, 16, and Jasmine, 14, — has beaten Michael in one-on-one play once, but he and his father are so competitive that they no longer play against each other.  Jeff says that although his parents’ divorce didn’t take him completely by surprise, "it was hard for all of us" nonetheless.

Click ‘continue reading’ for more of the interview. 

Fortunately for Jeff and his siblings, Michael and Juanita have maintained an amicable relationship.  According to Michael, keeping their focus on parenting forces civility. 

[Jeff's] mom and I were on the same page when it came to that – our kids came first.  We still communicate each and every day. Nothing’s being done with the kids that we don’t communicate.  And we’re very good friends actually.  And they can sense that.

For the full interview, tune in to Today, tomorrow.

Source:  MSNBC