Michael Jordan, the NBA legend, has been spotted again in Europe, this time in St. Tropez with his lovely wife Yvette Prieto.
The closing of Jordan’s $3 billion sale of the Charlotte Hornets is drawing near, and the 60-year-old owner can’t wipe the grin off his face as he relaxes in the sun.
The latest photos show Michael Jordan, 40, and his 44-year-old wife, LaToya, relaxing with a cup of coffee on the deck of their yacht, with Jordan wearing an Air Jordan t-shirt and a Nike bucket hat to promote his business.
After his coffee, Jordan lights up a cigar and relaxes on the railings of his balcony in the sunny south of France to take in his surroundings.
Later, Michael and his group take a boat to Bagatelle Beach in St. Tropez, where he disembarks and walks across the sand.
Jordan is escorted by six guys as he walks up the promenade, and others look to see the NBA great.
As the sale of his beloved Charlotte Hornets, for an eye-popping $3 billion, approaches, Jordan has had a busy few weeks.
The NBA board of governors approved the sale on Sunday to a company headed by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin.
The deal is scheduled to close in the coming weeks, and Jordan will maintain a minority ownership position in the team.
Reports of negotiations between Jordan and Plotkin and Schnall to purchase the squad initially surfaced in March.
Jordan invested $275 million to purchase a controlling interest in his home state’s NBA franchise in 2010.
Forbes’ current valuation of the Hornets puts them at $1.7 billion, good for 27th among NBA clubs and an increase of $1.3 billion over the last decade.
Many people consider Jordan to be the best player in NBA history, and he is the only African-American owner in the league.
Jordan won six NBA titles and five Most Valuable Player honors during his career, but he has been less successful as a business owner. During his tenure, Charlotte has consistently been towards the bottom of the league in terms of overall performance.
Jordan’s term as Hornets owner has largely forgettable other than the 2015 rebranding from the Bobcats to the Hornets.
Since Jordan became majority owner, Charlotte has only had three winning seasons and two trips to the playoffs.
In the midst of the European summer last week, Jordan and his family were spotted relaxing on the yacht.
While Yvette was spotted strolling about the yacht in her gym gear, Jordan was observed sitting at his dining table with his kids.
He had been spotted the week before at the world-famous Lemon Tree restaurant on Capri, sharing a meal with Magic Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson.
Johnson posted a funny video of himself and Jordan laughing it up as the restaurant band played a humorous serenade for the three pals.
In an Instagram photo, Johnson gushed over their meal at the renowned Da Paolino Ristorante, often known as “the lemon tree restaurant” on the Italian island of Capri.
“AND I got to spend time with my great friend and the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, and his wife Yvette, Sam (Samuel L. Jackson) and LaTanya Jackson, Judge Greg and Linda Mathis, and John and Vicki Palmer.”
Both Jordan and his wife Prieto like to remain in the background.
The two were introduced in a Miami bar in 2008, and three years later, Jordan popped the question to the Cuban-born model.
They tied the knot in 2013, and their twin children (now nine) were born the following year.
A question about Jordan’s feelings about his son Marcus, 32, dating Larsa Pippen, 49, the ex-wife of his Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen, was posed to him and Yvette as they left a Paris restaurant before their trip to Italy.
He exclaimed, “No!” with a chuckle.