Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were good friends off the court for a long time but their relationship has since soured quite a bit. During the NBA Top 75 event, Jordan was seen ignoring Barkley while he was interacting with the various other players and legends that were gathered there.
Despite the frosty and awkward encounter, MJ was seemingly the life of the party when he turned up for the celebration. Having been at Daytona before that, many weren’t even sure if Jordan would make it, but once the Bulls legend turned up, everyone wanted to spend some time talking to Mike.
Another unexpected presence was that of Dennis Rodman, who was supposedly not expected to attend the event either but ended up doing so. Barkley spoke about Rodman and Jordan being present on The Steam Room, and the effect that it had on the crowd to see the two NBA legends present on such a brilliant night.
“First of all, Dennis and Michael surprised us because they were not in the picture session. When Dennis came out, I was like wow that’s awesome he’s there. And then when Michael came out because I had just watched Michael on television at the Daytona 500. What I could see up in the tunnel is Magic Johnson. And I said to myself, that’s a great way to finish. And then when Michael showed up the crowd went ballistic. I think the players were glad he was there, I was glad he was there.”
These words from Barkley are quite kind considering that he and Michael Jordan are possibly still not even on speaking terms. There’s no lie there though, the cheers that followed Michael Jordan’s arrival to the podium ended up being the loudest on the night, the influence he still has on NBA fans is incredible to witness. Fans will be hoping Jordan and Barkley themselves can reconcile, as both are huge favorites among fans of the sport in their own right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH9dc0m_IKA
