Michael Jordan may be the most iconic player in basketball history. Throughout the course of his 15-year career, he dominated the game at a level that had never been seen before. Off the court, his swagger made him an instant hit with the media, and his fame quickly transcended the game itself.
In all that Jordan had done, it hasn’t been without cutting a few ties.
Most notably, the relationship between Mike and his former friend Charles Barkley has taken a major hit. And while a lot of the details of that dynamic have yet to be revealed, Barkley did express major remorse for their falling out.
“The guy was like a brother to me for, shoot, 20-something years,” Barkley said Tuesday on Waddle and Silvy (h/t ESPN’s Nick Friedell). “At least 20-something years. And I do, I feel sadness. But to me, he’s still the greatest basketball player ever. I wish him nothing but the best. But there’s nothing I can do about it, brother.”
Things took a sour turn after Barkley called out his friend for his failures as the owner of the Charlotte Hornets. Under Jordan’s guidance, the Hornets have just a few playoff appearances in the last decade and own one of the worst regular-season win-loss records in that span.
Clearly, Jordan didn’t feel good about Barkley’s criticism, even if it is warranted. According to Chuck, he didn’t even say anything that bad.
“The thing that bothered me the most about that whole thing, I don’t think that I said anything that bad,” Barkley said. “I’m pretty sure I said, ‘As much as I love Michael, until he stops hiring them kiss-asses, and his best friends, he’s never going to be successful as a general manager.’ And I remember pretty much verbatim I said that. And the thing that really pissed me off about it later is Phil Jackson said the exact same thing.”
So, Barkley was just telling Mike to watch out for the people he puts around him. Somebody who is just looking to please Jordan may not always be 100% honest with him.
“Listen, if you’re famous, and Michael at one point was the most famous person in the world, everybody around you is either on the payroll or letting you buy drinks and dinner and flying around on your private jet. Very few of your friends are going to be honest with you. And that’s very hard for any celebrity, but especially somebody of his stature.
“But I thought that was one of the reasons we were great friends. Like, ‘I can ask Charles anything and I know he’s going to give me a straight answer.’ But part of my job [as an analyst] is, because I can’t go on TV and say ‘Another general manager sucks’ and then just because Michael’s like a brother to me say ‘He’s doing a fantastic job.’ That would be disingenuous.”
There are likely some other factors at play here, but the relationship between Barkley and Jordan may never recover. Even though Chuck was just doing his job as a reporter, his honesty seems to have cost him a 20-year friendship.
