Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were two of the most dominant NBA players in the 90s. They won MVPs, faced off in the NBA Finals, and even shared the court to bring home the gold in the 1992 Olympics.
Despite their rivalry on the court, they grew a strong relationship and a close friendship. They hung out together, got drinks together, and were often spotted hitting the golf course and going against each other.
However, Barkley’s criticism of Jordan’s actions in charge of the Charlotte Hornets eventually led them to end their friendship. At least, that’s how the Phoenix Suns superstar thinks it all went down.
NBA News: Charles Barkley Explains Why He Doesn’t Talk To Michael Jordan Anymore
“I think probably, me and Michael [Jordan] were best friends, that’s probably the most prominent thing,” Barkley said on the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast.“Michael Jordan, losing his friendship was probably the most prominent thing that’s happened to me. But I was being honest about what I thought. I said, ‘Listen, the toughest thing about Michael, he’s got to put better people around him.’ Because the toughest thing, when you’re famous, they’re on your private jet, you’re buying all the drinks, you’re buying all the dinners. Very few people are gonna be honest with you”.
“I try to surround myself with people like, ‘hey, if I’m screwing up, please tell me.’ And Michael got offended about something I said about him. And we haven’t spoken in probably almost 10 years,” Chuck added. “And he was my best friend at the time. And I love the dude like a brother and we’re both stubborn and we haven’t talked.”
At the end of the day, Barkley’s job is to talk about those things, so Jordan should know better. Hopefully, one day they’ll be able to talk things through and go back to being the close friends they used to be.