Man convicted in murder of Michael Jordan's father granted parole

One of the two men convicted in the 1993 killing of Michael Jordan's father, James Jordan, is set to be released from prison.

Larry Demery was approved to be released on Aug. 6, 2023, by the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, provided he remains on good behavior, according to WSOCTV.

Demery and Daniel Green were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the 56-year-old Jordan, who was shot and killed while sleeping in his car along a highway in North Carolina.

North Carolina's current sentencing laws don't allow parole for crimes committed on or after Oct. 1, 1994, but since Demery was sentenced under the previous guidelines, he was eligible for release. Green won't be eligible for parole until 2021.

Michael Jordan opened up about his father in the ESPN documentary series "The Last Dance," describing him as his "rock."

"We were very close. He constantly gave me advice," Jordan said, according to People. "I remember in ninth grade I got suspended three times in one year, and my father pulled me aside that summer and said, 'Look, you don't look like you're heading in the right direction. You know, if you want to go about doing all this mischievous stuff, you can forget sports.'

"That's all I needed to hear. From that point on, it was like tunnel vision and I never got in trouble from that point on."