The couple took to their podcast to address the basketball legend's recent comment when asked about their relationship.
Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan are speaking out about Michael Jordan's reaction to their romance.
The 49-year-old Real Housewives of Miami star and the 32-year-old confirmed their relationship earlier this year amid ongoing rumors, and the confirmation has only fueled the flames when it comes to speculation about how the relationship between the two began.
Basketball fans will remember that Larsa was married to former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen for over 20 years, with the pair finalizing their divorce in 2021. The parents of four first separated in 2016 after 19 years of marriage.
Marcus is the son of Scottie's former Bulls teammate and estranged close friend, Michael Jordan.
Last week, the basketball legend was spotted leaving a restaurant in Paris, France, when he was asked about his son's relationship with the reality star.
Laughing at first, Michael brushed off the question, but when the photographer doubled down and asked if he approved, the former Chicago Bulls star replied with a blunt "No." The photographer asked again, confirming Michael's response, to which he answered by shaking his head no.
On the latest episode of their podcast, Separation Anxiety With Larsa Pippen & Marcus Jordan the couple address the incident together. Marcus says he presumes his father had been drinking tequila and was "feeling himself" while enjoying his visit for Quai 54 -- the world’s biggest streetball tournament -- when he had been approached by paparazzi.
"At first, he laughed, you know, kinda like how I laugh at a lot of the questions that we go through on this podcast... the reporter asked again, and he let out an emphatic 'no,' and then shook his head again as he was walking to his car," Marcus recounts. "Obviously, we knew ahead of time because he texted and called me and wanted to make sure I didn't take anything the wrong way, but when the article came out, he texted me again and said he never said 'hell no,' that's not what the implication was."
Larsa admits that she was nervous when TMZ broke the news, noting that it is not "ideal" for them to start a relationship and that, although their families preferred them not to be together in the beginning, it "happened organically."
Marcus shares that his first thought upon seeing the story was that his father was joking. "He was a little lit... I didn't put too much weight on it," he claims, adding that he was grateful that his father later called because it put Larsa at ease that Marcus wasn't lying about his family's approval.
Although he doesn't share exactly what his father's text message said, Marcus shares that Michael noted he was an adult and didn't need anyone's approval. "I can make my own decisions, he doesn't need to approve who I date or my personal relationships. He's gonna love me no matter what," Marcus says. "I think that's what the takeaway was from the conversation, but of course no one sees that, they just see the headlines."
While Larsa shares that she felt embarrassed by how quickly the story spread to various outlets, Marcus says that his father didn't think of the timing of the situation.
The couple acknowledges that the main source of speculation about their relationship stems from the contention between Michael and Scottie, which neither of them speaks out about.
While Michael and Scottie were longtime friends, in 2020, Michael revealed during his docuseries, The Last Dance, that he and Scottie are no longer on good terms.
Larsa shares that she felt awkward because she was telling people that their families approved of their relationship before Michael's comment made headlines, and she worried that people assumed she was lying.
"It might be weird for them, but it's not weird for us," Larsa notes of Michael and Scottie's estrangement. "They have/had their relationship, and it has nothing to do with us."
The couple previously told ET that Marcus' family's approval of their relationship gave them the green light to go public with their romance after keeping things tightly under wraps.
"We spent Thanksgiving together last year and, you know, my family loves her. They think she's great. And ultimately, I think my family just wants to see me happy. And so as long as I'm happy, they're happy with, you know, where I'm living," Marcus shared.
He continued, "Everybody had an opinion at first, I think there was some shock and interest early on, but I think that was the whole point of us trying to spend some family time together during the holidays, at least for me if we're gonna be in the media, you know, I kind of need to introduce you to my mom and my mom's side and my dad's side. And so, I think that went well and so far so good."
They also shared that the podcast is their method of controlling their narrative amid all the rumors and speculation.
"I feel like a lot was being said about us all the time [and] I feel like there's so much said about me that I've always been like, 'That's so not true, that's not true,'" Larsa explained. "So I figured, 'Hey, let's do a podcast so we can basically give our opinions [and] state facts 'cause a lot of stuff that they say is inaccurate.'"
Marcus echoed his partner's sentiment, adding that a lot of the misconceptions veer into outrageous territory. "You know, people think Larsa used to babysit me and stuff like that," he says, sharing that the podcast gives the couple an opportunity to "put things in our own voice."
The biggest rumor the pair refutes is that their families have been intertwined since Michael's time playing alongside Larsa's ex. "That’s not what it was," Larsa maintained of the supposed years-long ties between the Jordan and Pippen families.
Marcus added, "Exactly. I think a lot of people think we spent a lot of time together while I was young, and honestly we met four years ago and didn't talk so often early on, but then over time, we started to gradually become better friends."
As for how this relationship differs from her relationship with Scottie, Larsa said the pair are "best friends."
"I feel like this time around, Marcus and I are best friends, and I feel like we share a lot," she explained. "Marcus didn’t necessarily want to be on Housewives with me, and I was like, 'Well, we would normally just go out to dinner, so, come out to dinner. You would normally just go to lunch with me, so go to lunch with the girls,' so I feel like it’s easy when you’re with someone that you genuinely want to be with and do stuff with."
Larsa added, "I think for us it's basically just us living our lives and doing the things we would normally do."
She isn't too concerned with how her ex, Scottie, feels about their relationship either, telling ET, "We haven't had that conversation. I don't really ask him what is going on in his personal life. He doesn't really ask me what's going on in my personal life. I feel like there's so much time that has gone with us not being together. It's been five years."
She continued, "I want to see him happy, and I think he wants to see me happy, and I think other people view it differently than how we view it. I wouldn't care if he dated someone that I knew or whatever. I wouldn't care."
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