Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are no longer on speaking terms today, but there was a time when they were the best of friends. So much so that Barkley revealed on the Dan Patrick Show that he and Jordan once made a pact with each other during their careers.
Barkley shared that bit of information when recounting the days leading up to the Phoenix Suns trading him to the Houston Rockets in 1996. Robert Barr, then-vice president of basketball affairs for the Rockets, reached out to him to ask whether he would hold out if they didn’t give him a new contract after trading for him.
Barkley told Barr he was not getting traded, so this wasn’t something even worth discussing. The Suns then told him he wasn’t going anywhere, but two days later, the Rockets contacted him again.
“The Rockets called me back,” Barkley said. “And I says, ‘Robert, they’re not going to trade me, I’m telling you. I’m the only player we got.’ They’re like, ‘Charles, just answer my question. If we trade for you, are you going to hold out?’ I says, ‘Robert, I’ve never held out.’ ‘Cause at that time, me and Michael are really close.
“And me and Michael made a pact because Scottie Pippen and I think Horace Grant were making more than him for the Bulls,” Barkley continued. “And I think some guys in Philly and Phoenix were making more than me at the time. And we said we would never complain or hold out. And I said, ‘We have a pact.’ And neither one of us ever did. And I said, ‘Dude, I would never hold out. I have a contract.’
“Five days later, I’m packing up, going to Houston,” Barkley added.
It is true that Jordan and Barkley never held out for more money in their careers. His point about Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant doesn’t appear accurate, though. There was never a season in which Pippen or Grant made more than Jordan on the Chicago Bulls.
Jordan was actually underpaid for much of his career with the Bulls, but he was still the top dog and made more than the likes of Pippen, Grant, and Dennis Rodman. It was only at the end of his career that the team opened the checkbook for him.
Jordan made $30.1 million in 1996-97 and then $33.1 million in 1997-98. To give some context on how big a jump that was, he had made about $29 million in his career prior to signing that contract in 1996.
These were also the only two seasons in which Jordan was the highest-paid player in the league, despite being the best for so long. According to Spotrac, he’d end up making $93.8 million in his career. Had the Bulls not broken the bank for Jordan in those two seasons, his career earnings might have barely been above $50 million.
As for Barkley, he made $40.6 million in his career, according to Spotrac. He never got that big payday like Jordan did, but it didn’t hurt him too much in the long run. Barkley joined Inside the NBA as a studio analyst in 2000 and is still on television today. His media career has been a huge success.
Unfortunately, this media career also cost Barkley his relationship with Jordan. In 2012, he was critical of how his friend was running the Charlotte Bobcats as team owner, and that didn’t go down well. Jordan rang up Barkley and ripped him for his comments. That, in fact, remains the last conversation between the two. Barkley has tried to mend fences in the years that followed, but it doesn’t look like Jordan is interested.
