Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were more than just rivals. They were some of the greatest players the game had ever seen and they made sure to prove it every time they faced each other throughout their careers. Obviously, that created a huge bond of respect between the two.
Also, they shared the court and the locker room during Team USA’s historic ‘Dream Team’ run, let alone dozens of golf courses where they enjoyed to bet against each other.
However, it seems like their once-close friendship took a hard turn some years ago when Chuck criticized the way Jordan was handling his business as an NBA executive. Apparently, the Black Cat – competitive as he is – wasn’t fond of Barkley’s remarks and they have been distant ever since:
“We were great friends forever, I miss Michael. I love Michael. I wish him nothing but the best. He’s the greatest basketball player ever. But obviously he didn’t take kindly to some things I said about his management skills. And that’s unfortunate. That’s unfortunate. But I’ve got to do my job…” Barkley recently claimed Hoops, Adjacent podcast.
Barkley went on to elaborate as to what he feels there’s still some bad blood between the two. He added that he loves and respect Jordan but he feels like the people he hired to help him weren’t going to challenge him when he made a wrong decision, just because they wanted the perks of hanging out with the greatest player ever:
“Don’t you have friends who you’re not sure how they’re gonna react when you’re honest with them. Especially somebody on his level. And like I say, hey, I love the dude. He’s the best I’ve ever seen. It’s unfortunate the way things went down. But I’m going to always try to do my job. And actually, my criticism was about the people around him. … I thought the people he hired around him were too many yes men. That was actually my statement, to be honest. I thought the people around him, they wanted the private jet. They wanted the steak dinner. They were always going to be yes men,” Barkley concluded.
Needless to say, Jordan’s work as an executive has been the entire opposite of what he did as a player. He made some questionable decisions for the Wizards and Hornets and we all know Barkley’s going to have his say on everything that goes around the league, even if someone’s not going to like what he has to say. Hopefully, they’ll be able to turn the page and go back to their old ways.
