Michael Jordan famously came out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards in 2001 and Charles Barkley had actually wanted to do the same as well. On the latest episode of Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith hilariously revealed how Barkley failed in that quest.
“He was gonna make a comeback with Michael Jordan,” Smith said. “Tim Grover came down and they would work… He used to eat right, they had vegetables, all this stuff for him. Soon as Tim Grover leave he order pizza. I was like he’s not coming back and playing with no Wizards.”
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Barkley desperately tried to stop Smith from revealing the story and could only laugh as Smith narrated how the comeback attempt failed miserably. While Sir Charles would have certainly loved to play with Jordan on the Wizards, he wasn’t really interested in doing all the boring stuff that would help him get back on the court.
Barkley had ruptured his left quadriceps tendon during the 1999-2000 season, which led to him retiring later in that campaign. To make a comeback after that in 2001 at his age would have required Barkley to sacrifice many things that he liked and based on Smith’s comments, he wasn’t interested in that.
Michael Jordan Poured Cold Water On Rumors Of Barkley Joining The Wizards
In the lead-up to the 2001 NBA Draft, there was a lot of buzz surrounding Jordan and Barkley’s potential comeback. The two were playing refereed games against other NBA players at Hoops the Gym in Chicago, and Barkley had even said he was working toward a comeback.
On draft night, though, Jordan, who was the part-owner and president of basketball operations for the Wizards, hilariously poured cold water on the talk of Barkley joining his team.
“Well actually I think Charles should be getting the message that this kid (Kwame Brown) can play multi positions,” Jordan said when asked about Barkley being on the team.
Jordan had broken some ribs back then during those games and Barkley, who was present when those comments were made, mocked him during the interview for whining too much about it. It led to Jordan hilariously giving him a bit of a warning.
“Don’t worry about it Charles,” Jordan said. “You can forget I’m still the boss if you need the job… I have a very good player coming to Washington, D.C., and I may not need another.”
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The player Jordan was talking about was Kwame Brown, to be clear. Barkley jokingly fired back that he might not even consider coming to the Wizards unless he upped the ante. Jordan then stated that staying at TNT would be the best move for Barkley.
Charles Barkley Expressed An Interest In Wanting To Play For The Wizards In The 2001-02 Season
Not long after draft night came the bombshell news of Jordan’s comeback. While it led to much fanfare, things did not get off to a great start on the court. The Wizards started the 2001-02 season 2-9 and as he saw his good friend’s team struggling, Barkley wanted to help.
“I’m thinking about it,” Barkley told HBO. “I miss playing. I feel bad Michael is struggling and I think I could help him, but I need to lose another 25 pounds before I could help him.”
Well, considering he couldn’t stop eating pizzas, he was never going to lose those 25 pounds. The Wizards also weren’t all that keen on having him onboard as per the reports back then and ultimately, Barkley never made a comeback.
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