Michael Jordan’s daughter Jasmine recently revealed what has surprised her about her father as she watches “The Last Dance,” ESPN’s hit docuseries about the basketball legend.
Jasmine Jordan noted that she’s currently watching the 10-part documentary, which premiered in the U.S. on April 19, for the first time in real-time with everyone else. The final two episodes will air Sunday.
The 27-year-old told The Associated Press in an interview published Thursday that she found her father’s openness throughout the documentary astonishing.
“It’s definitely surprising because my father is very private,” she said. “He doesn’t like to comment on social matters or he doesn’t like to respond to things when people want him to. He definitely likes to move methodically on his terms and on his time.”
She told InStyle in a 2018 interview, “He just so happened to have chosen a profession that was made for the public eye, and honestly I think if he could’ve had his same career without the fame, he’d probably still do it.”
Jasmine Jordan told AP that she thinks the documentary will help to humanize the six-time NBA champion and legendary cultural figure for viewers.
Michael Jordan shares Jasmine and sons Marcus and Jeffrey with ex-wife Juanita Vanoy. He also has twin daughters, Victoria and Ysabel, with his wife, Yvette Prieto Jordan.
Jasmine Jordan told AP that she’s taking in the docuseries “as a fan” and excitedly texting her father after she watches each episode.
“I think there hasn’t been an episode, a Sunday where I haven’t been like, ‘This happened — let me know your thoughts,’” she said.
The 27-year-old also noted that she has learned new things about her dad from watching the docuseries and that the experience has been “eye-opening.”
“I think I’m definitely learning that my dad was really trying to take in the pressures and the expectations and not allowing it to weigh on him and really manifesting it to his own,” she said. (Read her full interview with The Associated Press here.)
She admitted in an interview with CBS that “I definitely didn’t realize growing up who he was. He was “Dad,” and that was it,” sharing with AP that, as a preteen, she finally searched him online “to see why everyone was so obsessed”
“The Last Dance” has seen major success in viewership, and viral memes, since its premiere last month. Its first two episodes, which aired on the same night, saw an average of 6.1 million viewers on ESPN and ESPN 2, according to Deadline.
Those episodes were the two most-viewed original content broadcasts on ESPN networks since 2004, ESPN reported.