Friends to lovers! Larsa Pippen initially denied any romantic connection with Marcus Jordan, but after they went public with their relationship, she didn’t hesitate to gush about her beau.
The Real Housewives of Miami star explained in February 2023 that the duo actually met four years earlier and struck up a friendship after connecting at a party. “We have a lot of mutual friends, and so we’re kind of in the same circle,” the reality star said during an interview with Tamron Hall, adding that they have “everything in common.”
The Peacock personality revealed that the pair’s friendship turned romantic after she realized she was “jealous” seeing Jordan talk to another woman. “It was weird because I’m not really the jealous person, but I was jealous over the situation,” the Larsa Marie designer told People in February 2023. “And so then, I was thinking maybe I do really like him. That kind of sealed the deal.”
While the couple may have a lot of mutual friends, one of their biggest commonalities comes from their strong connection to the NBA. Marcus is the son of basketball icon Michael Jordan, while Larsa was previously married to former Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen. Michael and Scottie played together on the Bulls for more than a decade, leading the team to 6 NBA championships in the 1990s.
While Scottie and Larsa — who share sons Scotty Jr., Preston and Justin and daughter Sophia — have maintained an amicable relationship since their 2018 split, the same cannot be said for Scottie and his former teammate. The Arkansas native wasn’t happy with the way he was portrayed in the 2020 docuseries The Last Dance, which focused on Michael’s quest to win a final championship with the Bulls.
“They glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates,” Scottie wrote in his memoir, Unguarded, which hit shelves in November 2021. “Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product. The doc couldn’t have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director.”
Larsa, for her part, has seemingly tried to stay out of the drama between the two athletes, focusing instead on her romance with Marcus. When the twosome made their romance Instagram official in January 2023, they posed in front of a floral arrangement that nodded to Marcus’ dad. “✔️Checks over stripes🏆,” Larsa wrote via Instagram at the time alongside a snap of the couple with a model of Michael’s Bulls jersey.
“Larsa and Marcus are still trying to play it coy [but] it’s very obvious to everyone around them that the chemistry is off the charts and they’re crazy about each other,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly that same month. “They’ve been friends for years. She’s super comfortable with him and has always said he’d be a major catch for anyone.”
Keep scrolling for everything Larsa has said about her romance with Marcus:
Just Friends
As rumors about their relationship status swirled, Larsa claimed that the pair were purely platonic. "We're friends," the Chicago native told People at BravoCon in October 2022. "We've been friends for a few years and that's really what it is. We're friends."
Love 'Forever'
Shortly after the twosome made their romance Instagram official, Larsa gave a shout-out to her boyfriend for Valentine's Day in February 2023. "My forever Valentine ❤️," she wrote via Instagram, sharing a photo of the duo cuddled up on the beach.
Meeting the In-Laws
Despite the drama between Michael and Scottie, Larsa hinted in February 2023 that she's spent time with Marcus' dad and mom, Juanita Vanoy. “I’ve recently been hanging out with them, but I don’t really want to talk about them," she explained during a Tamron Hall interview at the time. "I feel like it’s not about, you know, my parents or his parents — they’re all happy; our whole family’s fine.”
Going Strong
"I feel like we’re in a great place," Larsa told Hall in February 2023. "We motivate each other. We’re really happy being together. And I feel like that’s the most important thing."
In a separate interview with People that same month, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum said that she and Marcus have maintained the friendship they had before they started dating. "For me, I just could never be open and open to different guys," she told the outlet. "I would find faults in every guy … I had all these quirky things and then low and behold, Marcus drops down from heaven. And I'm like, I like everything about him. ... I feel like I always joke around and I say, 'Oh, my God, if Marcus told me to color my hair green, I'm going to do it.' Just because I feel like I have to make him happy because he makes me so happy."
Why the Age Gap Doesn't Matter
Larsa is 16 years older than Marcus, but she's said that the age difference hasn't been an issue. "Age doesn't determine your level of maturity," she explained during her Tamron Hall appearance in February 2023. “I’ve dated guys that were a lot older than me. Scottie is 10 years older than me.”
What Scottie Thinks
Despite Scottie's connection to Marcus and Michael, Larsa said that she and her ex-husband don't discuss their current relationships. "The only conversations we have are based on our kids," she told Hall in February 2023. "I don't ask him who he's dating, he doesn't ask me who I'm dating."
Marcus and the Kids
"My kids love Marcus," Larsa explained to Hall in February 2023. "We travel together, my kids really enjoy spending time with him. I feel like I'm in a great place and that's the most important thing."
In June 2023, the reality star gave Us an update on how her boyfriend and her little ones were growing closer.
“[My kids], they love Marcus. Like, they love him and I feel like we talk about the same things,” she gushed. “So when I’m talking to my older son Scotty about basketball, Marcus is in on the conversation. [Then when I am] talking to my son Preston about fashion, Marcus has a clothing store — he has a boutique — so he chimes in. It is just an easy fit for our family.”
Off the Air
Though Marcus is used to the limelight, Larsa doesn't think he'll appear on RHOM very much in the future. "I don't know how much Marcus is going to be on the show. I feel like a little bit," she told People in February 2023. "I don't want to put too much pressure on him. I feel like he signed up for me. I don't think he signed up for the show, but I do feel like we're together now and if there's events and there's stuff, he would normally go with me, so he'd come there too."
Joining the ‘RHOM’ Family
Marcus and Larsa exclusively told Us in June 2023 that they filmed a couple of scenes together for the upcoming season of RHOM — and his parents were “warming up” to the idea of being on screen. Despite the Jordan family’s hesitation, Larsa revealed she had a blast working with her boyfriend.
“It’s been so much fun,” she told Us. “I feel like I get to work with my best friend even doing the podcast. It’s kind of like, ‘How did I get so lucky?’ Like, I’m doing all the things that I would’ve normally done alone. And now I have a boyfriend [and] a best friend all built in one, and it makes it so much more fun.”
Never Been Better
Larsa opened up about being in a “great” place amid her and Marcus’ blossoming romance.
“I love my boyfriend so much, and so this is where I am today,” she exclusively to Us at BravoCon in October 2023, sharing that viewers would “see a different side of me being in a relationship” during RHOM season 6.
