As one of the biggest and most successful professional athletes ever, Michael Jordan had no shortage of riches at his disposal. And while he often blew his self-made money on gambling and other activities, he also used it to play mind games with Charles Barkley.
According to former Chicago Bulls assistant coach Johnny Bach, Jordan once gifted Barkley (his old “friend”) a $20,000 earring after a golfing match during the 1993 NBA Finals:
“He won’t get in my way the rest of the series,” Jordan said. “What’s $20,000 to me? Charles thinks we’re great friends. I hate that fat f**k.”
While Jordan and Barkley were close at some point, it’s clear that the Bulls superstar wasn’t going to let his friend get in the way of winning another championship. As we know, the Bulls would go on to beat Barkley’s Suns that year in a 4-2 series that gave MJ his third straight championship.
While we’ll never know how much Jordan’s mind games played a role in that victory, it does serve as another example of the extreme lengths MJ was willing to go to ensure victory for him and his Bulls teammates.
Michael Jordan Had A Killer Mentality
As much as MJ’s game dominated the court, it was his attitude and work ethic that brought his success to another level. Besides treating his opponents as a threat to be vanquished, he never wavered in confidence to beat whatever team was matched up in front of him.
“When I’m on my game, I don’t think there’s anybody that can stop me,” Jordan once said. “It’s a strong feeling, and it has strong implications: Once I get the ball, you’re at my mercy. There’s nothing you can say or do about it. I own the ball, I own the game, I own the guy guarding me: I can actually play him like a puppet. I don’t do that in life, I don’t do that in society. But in a game—when I’m on—yes.”
As a 6x champion, nobody can deny that MJ is a winner and that his tactics, while sometimes cruel, ultimately helped shape his career into the massive success we see it as today.
Regarding the relationship between Barkley and Michael, they are no longer on speaking terms today, but it seems keeping friends is not high on the Chicago legend’s priorities.
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