‘Everyone Has a Black Spouse Except Jordan’: Michael Jordan and His Wife Join Friends Samuel L. Jackson and Wife LaTanya Richardson, Magic and Cookie Johnson, and More for Annual Vacation

Michael Jordan was seen vacationing with his wife, model Yvette Prieto, along with Earvin “Magic” and Cookie Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Judge Greg Mathis and his wife Linda, and John and Vicki Palmer.

Fans clowned the former NBA star after Magic shared a photo on social media of the men posing with their wives while on vacation in Capri, Italy.

Prieto, who is Cuban-born but raised in Miami, stood out amongst the rest of the crowd, and fans took note.

Greg Mathis Michael Jordan Magic Johnson Samuel L. Jackson
(From left) Judge Greg Mathis poses with his wife, Linda, Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto, Cookie and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson and John and Vicki Palmer in Capri, Italy. (Photo: @magicjohnson / Instagram)

Johnson posted the picture with the caption, “Tonight we enjoyed an incredible dinner at the world-famous Da Paolino Ristorante aka the lemon tree restaurant in Capri, Italy! AND I got to hang out with my great friend and the greatest basketball player to ever live, Michael Jordan, and his wife Yvette, Sam and LaTanya Jackson, Judge Greg and Linda Mathis, and John and Vicki Palmer.”

Fans teased Jordan after viewing the vacation photographs in the comment section.

“Everybody has a black spouse except Jordan.”

“I wonder what jordan wife be talking about in their convos.”

“Somebody look uncomfortable!!”

“Mike got him a snow bunny he chilling she looks fit feminine and friendly.”

“Black Excellence in one photo.”

The group (sans the Jordans) also visited Portofino, Italy, and Antibes, France, on their European vacation, and Johnson shared the pictures on Twitter. It shows some of the couples having dinner at the world-famous restaurant Michelangelo in Antibes.

“Our great friend Mamo always treats us to a good time and even better food!” he tweeted.

The Johnsons traveled to Europe last year, where they were joined by the Jacksons, the Palmers, LL Cool J, and his wife, Simone, as well as Tina Knowles-Lawson and her husband, Richard Lawson.

While fans know the Jacksons from their work as actors and Mathis from his reality show, “Judge Mathis,” many may not know the Palmer family. Vicki Palmer is the founder of the Atlanta-based management consulting company The Palmer Group, and her husband John worked in politics as a senior aide to U.S. Sen, Bob Dole.

As for Prieto, the former model married Jordan in 2013, and the two have twin 9-year-old daughters. Jordan and his first wife, Juanita Vanoy, divorced back in 2006 after having three children, 34-year-old Jeffrey, 32-year-old Marcus, and Jasmine, 30.

His son Marcus is currently dating Scottie Pippen’s ex-wife, Larsa Pippen, although he doesn’t approve.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top