Michael Jordan has seen how some players that seemed to like him ended up beefing with him for several reasons. His Airness earned a lot of love and respect from fans, but also hate from some of his peers, who didn’t like him for his success, or the way others saw him.
The most famous case is Isiah Thomas, who seemingly never liked Jordan and did everything to stop No. 23 from being successful. He could hold the Bulls legend until he said enough and went through the Detroit Pistons on his way to the first of six championships.
MJ also saw two of his best friends becoming strangers in recent years, first getting mad at Charles Barkley for criticizing his decisions as an executive. Chuck and Jordan were really close, with Black Jesus even taking Charles on his airplane to cheer him up when he was down after a loss.
After the Chicago Bulls’ 10-part docu-series The Last Dance premiered in 2020, Scottie Pippen felt hurt for the way he was portrayed in the documentary. That led him to write a book, where he took big shots at MJ and many people he seemed to be cool with.
Right now, these are Jordan’s three biggest ‘enemies’ and many people wonder if he could ever make amends with them. Well, according to Charles Oakley, that won’t happen. Talking with Shannon Sharpe on his ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast, the Oak Tree explained why that’s not a possibility for Jordan.
“No. It’s just like asking… I dunno, Isiah Thomas won’t come because he didn’t go to the Dream Team. Scottie has put himself in a position where it’s almost tough to sit down and sit across from the guy that went to war with you and said something about it in the book.
“But Barkley, ain’t no more golfing for Barkley. I know he likes golfing and all, but Charles Barkley is going to have to sit on TNT for 20 years. Ain’t no golf time for you, and I feel sorry for you. You really like to play golf, your game gets better, but you got to play with some other guys.
Michael Jordan will never be cool with Barkley, Pippen & Isaiah Thomas@CharlesOakley34 explains pic.twitter.com/ROUToGMvtz
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) March 17, 2022
It’s really hard to imagine Jordan trying to reach out to Thomas and sort out their differences, although people like Shaquille O’Neal would try to make that happen. He ignored Charles Barkley during last month’s top 75 ceremony in Cleveland, so it’s unlikely that he changes his stance about Chuck.
As for Pippen, he must feel betrayed by somebody he considered his friend. Scottie took a big turn on Jordan and went off on him, making bold claims that a lot of people couldn’t believe. They’re not in a good position right now and it seems really hard that they come together again after this fallout.
