Michael Jordan enjoyed near-unparalleled success on the basketball court, and he is now winning on the racetrack as well. Jordan’s NASCAR Cup Series team, 23XI Racing, has won four of the first seven races of this 2026 season, and his former friend Charles Barkley is proud of him.
Barkley sang Jordan’s praises as he spoke on TNT about the need for professional athletes to find something that brings them joy post-retirement.
“Basketball is just a small part of your life,” Barkley said. “No matter how great you are, you’re gonna be done as a young person. You have to find something else to bring you joy and happiness and things like that. Hey, I love doing television. I’ve been blessed to do this for a long time, but basketball, I’ve been retired longer than I played.
“I’m happy about his success in NASCAR,” Barkley added. “I know he loves fishing, like he said, but I’m proud of his success in NASCAR. He’s always been great for me. He taught me how to make money and things like that. And so I’m proud of his success.”
An uber-competitive individual like Jordan was always going to need something to scratch that itch after retirement. For the longest time, it was mostly golf, but he has now found something else that he is incredibly passionate about.
Jordan and Denny Hamlin co-founded 23XI Racing in 2020. The team started competing in the Cup Series in 2021, and it wasn’t long before it found success.
Tyler Redick earned Jordan his first-ever NASCAR title in 2024, winning the regular season championship. Redick would advance to the Championship Four as well, but failed to win the title.
The 2025 season wasn’t quite as successful for Redick and 23XI, but they have bounced back in style in 2026. He became the first driver in series history to win the first three races to start a season. Redick then won the sixth race at Darlington to become just the third driver to win four of the first six races.
The first of those wins was the Daytona 500, and after the race, Jordan said it felt like he had just won a championship. He could well taste ultimate glory this season with the way things are going.
Jordan has done a lot right post-retirement, which led to his becoming a billionaire in 2014, but there is one area where he failed. We’re of course talking about his tenure as the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets.
Jordan became a minority owner of the Bobcats in 2008 and then became the majority owner in 2010 by forking out $275 million. In 13 seasons under him, the team posted a terrible 423-600 record. They made the playoffs on three occasions but failed to win even one series.
It was during this stretch that Jordan and Barkley’s relationship completely fell apart. The two had been close friends from their playing days, but the former was incensed after the latter criticized him in 2012 for the way he was running the team.
Jordan rang up Barkley and went off on him. That was the last time they spoke to each other, and it seems unlikely they’ll ever be friends again.
While Jordan failed to find success on the court with the Bobcats/Hornets, he did at least make a pretty penny from that investment. He sold his majority stake for approximately $3 billion in 2023. Even when Jordan loses, he wins.
