Charles Barkley revealed that he and former NBA player and best friend Michael Jordan haven’t spoken to each other in nearly ten years since their falling out. The former friends were part of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team and faced each other several times over the years.
One of their most famous games was the 1993 NBA Finals. At the time, Barkley was with the Phoenix Suns and the regular season MVP. Their meeting in the finals is a central topic in the Jordan and the Bulls documentary, “The Last Dance.”
The former friend and NBA player has been on the sidelines since 2012 when Barkley criticized Jordan on a radio show for the way he ran the Charlotte Hornets franchise.
Read on to learn more about the decade-old beef.
Charles Barkley Hasn’t Talked To Michael Jordan In Almost A Decade
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Since the fight, Barkley and Jordan have reportedly not spoken to each other. The former NBA star said as much when speaking with Tom Brady on an episode of SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go! With the Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray podcast”.
During a Nov. 21 interview, he clarified that his comments were in reference to the “Space Jam” star. Barkley said, per Us Weekly“Michael Jordan, losing his friendship was probably the most prominent thing that happened to me [because of my bluntness]. But I’m honest about what I think.”
The NBA star publicly criticized his former teammate nearly a decade ago over his handling of the NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets franchise. After his comments at the time, Barkley claimed that Jordan only had yes men around him and needed someone to criticize his actions.
Charles Barkley Says Michael Jordan Needs Better People Around Him
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During a podcast with Brady, Barkley said because of Jordan’s popularity, he felt he needed better people around him and said as much. “I said, ‘Listen, the hardest thing about Michael, he’s got to put better people around him,'” he said.
“Because the most difficult thing [about] when you’re famous [is] they board your private jet, you buy all the drinks; you buy all the dinners. Very few people will be honest with you. And I try to surround myself with people [and say] like, ‘Hey, if I’m being silly, please tell me.’”
Jordan didn’t seem to appreciate Barkley’s comments, and as a result, the former friends stopped talking and have been on the sidelines for nearly ten years. “He was my best friend at the time,” said the sports commentator Us Weekly. “I love that man like a brother, and we’re both stubborn, and we don’t talk.”
Charles Barkley Speaks His Mind
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Further in the interview, Barkley revealed that he had no intention of being a people pleaser despite feeling bad about his broken relationship with Jordan. He said, “[My former teammate Julius “Dr. J” Erving] trying to train me on how to deal with the media.”
Barkley continued, “He said, ‘You’ve got to make a choice. You’re going to be honest, or you’re going to try to make everybody like you.’… I realized it doesn’t matter what I say. Half the people are going to love it, and half the people are going to hate it.”
The sports commentator added that starting from his third year as part of the NBA until now, he has always made sure to give his honest opinion on issues and deal with the consequences afterwards.
Scottie Pippen And Michael Jordan Fight
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Jordan also had issues with former NBA star and friend Scottie Pippen last year after the release of his Netflix documentary, “The Last Dance.” Both played together with the Bulls and were major factors in the team’s six championships in the 1990s.
In November of last year, Pippen released his memoir, “Unguarded,” in which he put Jordan on blast for glorifying himself in a Netflix documentary while downplaying the roles and contributions of his other teammates in the victory.
“They glorify Michael Jordan while not giving enough credit to me and my proud teammates,” Pippen wrote. “Michael is to blame. The producers have given him editorial control over the final product. Otherwise, the document cannot be released. He is the leader and the director.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
