Karla Knafel versus Michael Jordan

karla knafel, Michael Jordan

The Illinois Supreme Court is taking a pass on a case involving basketball legend Michael Jordan.

The state's highest court decided Wednesday that it won't hear an appeal in a long-running legal dispute over child paternity between the retired Chicago Bulls superstar and an ex-lover.

Jordan and Karla Knafel went to court in 2002 after the Indianapolis woman claimed he agreed in 1991 to pay her $5 million when he retired from professional basketball as long as she kept their affair secret.

DNA tests later showed the child wasn't Jordan's.

He claimed Knafel was trying to extort him, and he won an appellate court decision last December.


A state Appellate Court ruled Wednesday in favor of Michael Jordan in his dispute with a former lover who contends that the retired superstar owes her $5 million.

Karla Knafel said Jordan promised her the money for remaining silent and agreeing not to file a paternity suit after she learned she was pregnant in 1991.

Jordan denied making the promise and sued Knafel in 2002, alleging that she was trying to extort money from him. DNA tests later showed that Jordan was not the father of the child.