Hooped Up

An Illinois Appellate Court ruled in favor of Michael Jordan on Wednesday in a five-year legal dispute with a woman who alleged the basketball great promised her $5 million to keep quiet over the paternity of a child.

The ruling affirmed a Cook County Circuit Court judge’s July 2006 decision that any possible agreement between Jordan and Karla Knafel was “unenforceable” and “voidable” either due to “Knafel’s fraudulent misrepresentation to Jordan that he was the child’s father” or as a “mutual mistake of fact.”

“We are pleased that Michael Jordan’s position has been vindicated,” said Jordan’s attorney Frederick Sperling.

Knafel, of Indianapolis, alleged that Jordan agreed in 1991 to pay her $5 million when he retired from the NBA as long as she kept their affair confidential and didn’t file a paternity lawsuit.

Jordan denied ever promising to pay and sued Knafel in 2002, claiming attempted extortion. Knafel had agreed to a $250,000 payment to remain silent about their relationship after DNA tests showed the child was not his, Jordan said in court documents.

USA Today