Fans often marvel at the physical gifts of their favorite athletes, but more often than not, games are decided by which player and team is stronger mentally. For instance, Mike Tyson was so feared that it’s said he used to beat his opponents before they even stepped in the ring with him.
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In the game of basketball, nobody has ever had that aura of invincibility like Michael Jordan. That’s why he’s still the most common pick for the greatest player of all-time, because for a long stretch, the Bulls and he were basically unbeatable as they completed two separate three-peats.
By 1992, most people recognized Jordan’s superiority over the competition. He’d won three MVP awards by that point and had led the Bulls to back-to-back NBA titles over the Lakers and Blazers. Still, not everyone was ready to roll over and anoint him as the best player in the league.
Charles Barkley sure wasn’t, as he said earlier today on The Dan Patrick Show. Chuck is in town to play in the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament, and he sat down with the longtime SportsCenter anchor to talk about his playing days, among other things.
In that interview, Barkley made the candid revelation that there came a point where he realized that Jordan was better than he was.
“When I got traded to Phoenix,” Charles said, “Chuck Daly had told me, ‘You’re the second-best player in the world.’ I said, ‘I’m the best f***** player in the world.’ He says, ‘No, that guy right over there [Jordan] is the best player in the world.’ I said, ‘Well I’m gonna prove it to your ass this year when we play them in the Finals.'”
Fast forward to June, and sure enough, Barkley’s Suns were the only thing standing between the Bulls and a three-peat. Barkley had recently been named MVP, and his Suns had finished the year with five more wins than the Bulls. Naturally, he was full of confidence. Then the Bulls won Games 1 and 2 in Phoenix, a place where the Suns had gone 35-6 during the regular season.
The word “shooketh” was not in use back then, but that’s what Barkley was after getting ambushed at home like that. He came home to his daughter and made a startling confession. “I gotta tell you something, I ain’t never said this in my life, but I think that guy might be better at basketball than I am.”
The Suns put up a fight in taking the series to six games, but after the Bulls closed them out with another road win in which Jordan outscored him 33 to 21, Barkley had no choice but to admit the truth. He was great, but Jordan was better.
Barkley continued to have a Hall of Fame career, but he never again reached the Finals, famously retiring without a ring. Jordan briefly stepped away from the game to play baseball, then came back and won three more rings to cement himself as the best ever.
