Michael Jordan, the NBA legend, has always had lofty expectations. For his children, bearing the “Jordan” name raised the stakes. When asked by CBS News’ Gayle King how he deals with the pressure of his five children bearing his surname, the six-time champion revealed what he expects from them.

Speaking to King on Monday, he revealed his parenting philosophy, saying: “I mean, my kids’ expectations, because they grew up in a household where success is rapidly walking around the house all day long,” Jordan told King. “The thing is that there’s expectations, and the only expectations I ever ask of any one of my kids is their own expectations. You can never live up to everyone else’s expectations. It’s virtually impossible. So, you have to set +your own expectations and live up to those. And if you achieve those, you should be smiling. You should be happy. But you’re never gonna live up to everyone else’s expectations.”

His five children, Jeffrey, Marcus, and Jasmine from his first marriage to Juanita Vanoy, as well as twins Ysabel and Victoria from his second marriage to Yvette Prieto, grew up in a household where success was defined as ‘rapidly walking around the house all day long.’ The weight of that particular household is something that few people can relate to on the inside. Jordan certainly can.

That is a genuine surprise coming from the most competitive player to ever play the game. It revealed something about the cost of external expectations that only someone who has carried them for 15 years fully understands. A decade and five years is a lot of experience. He observed what happened when the world determined which standard he had to meet next.

Michael Jordan sold a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2023. After years of speculation about the team’s future, he took a step back from the daily competitive environment of NBA ownership. At age 63, his primary public legacy work is Jordan Brand, which remains the most dominant athlete-associated brand in global sports history.

His adult children appear to have followed the philosophy he described for them. None of them have attempted to match his athletic record, and his remarks directly reflected this.

Michael Jordan’s Five Children and the Paths They’ve Built for Themselves

The three adult children from his first marriage have each chosen paths that orbit basketball without being defined by it. Jeffrey Jordan played college basketball at the University of Illinois and UCF but stepped away from any professional pursuit. Marcus Jordan played at UCF and has remained connected to basketball culture through media work. Jasmine Jordan has worked within the Jordan Brand organisation in a professional capacity.

None of them has made a career out of attempting to match what their father produced. In a family where that shadow would have been the easiest possible measuring stick to accept, the absence of it is the clearest possible evidence of the philosophy Jordan described. Additionally, his twin daughters, Ysabel and Victoria, born in 2014, are still young, and whatever paths they build, Jordan’s answer to Gayle King suggested that he already knows what his single expectation of them will be, and it is about whatever they set for themselves.

Michael Jordan has spent his entire adult life being evaluated against a standard the world built for him, not one he chose. When he says his only expectation of his children is the one they set for themselves, he is not lowering the bar. He described what he wished the world had applied to him. The line that carried the most weight in the exchange is not the famous name attached to it; instead, it is the sentence itself: ‘You’re never gonna live up to everyone else’s expectations.’ And he knows exactly what he is talking about.