Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were two of the biggest superstars in the NBA in the early 90s. Outside of being dominant on the hardwood, they were huge golf enthusiasts as well. In fact, Jordan and Chuck would often battle it out on the green after doing so on the court. Even though MJ once intimidated Barkley by putting a $300,000 bet on a single putt, the duo ended up playing 48 holes prior to their 1993 Finals clash. And after Jordan retired that very offseason, the Round Mound of Rebound predicted that his friend would only get better at golf.
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Best friends at the time, the two Hall-Of-Famers enjoyed their lives outside of basketball. With golf being a common interest, the duo would often have their friendly bouts. As you can already expect, their contests would be as competitive as they can get.
Charles Barkley’s fateful prediction regarding Michael Jordan’s retirement
MJ is considered to be one of the greatest players ever, if not the very greatest. Leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championship wins, His Airness won 6 Finals MVPs, 5 MVPs, 10 scoring titles, and a long list of other achievements.
While his skills on the basketball court were otherworldly, he was also a pretty good golfer. Having participated in semi-professional tournaments, Jordan would often defeat his teammates and other NBA personalities on the greens.
Having lost the sense of motivation after his father’s untimely demise, MJ retired from basketball after winning the 1993 NBA title and the completing the Bulls’ first three-peat. While talking about his retirement, Barkley stated that, now with a lot more time on his hands, MJ would improve as a golfer. Joking that the Bulls legend would have to give him an advantage the next time they square off, the Chuckster wrote in his book “Sir Charles: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles Barkley”:
“The only good thing about Michael retiring is that he’s going to have to give me some strokes the next time we play golf. His handicap is going to go way down this year, I know that.”
Jordan’s love for golf is pretty well-known. Apart from owning his private golf course, the GOAT also has his golf brand. He would spend hours on the greens prior to the most important games of his career. Apart from dedicating a lot of his time, MJ also spent a good amount of his money on golf.
Clearly, Mike had a huge affinity toward the sport.
Michael Jordan gifted Barkley $20,000 earrings only to distract him during the 1993 Finals
Jordan used several methods to intimidate his opponents. While he would often trash-talk, he always found and implemented new ways to get in his competition’s head.
During the 1993 Finals against the Phoenix Suns, MJ used a bizarre tactic to distract Barkley. The 6-feet-6 shooting guard gifted his friend a pair of $20,000 earrings. Explaining his reason behind the same, Jordan had jokingly revealed:
“He won’t get in my way the rest of the series, what’s $20,000 to me? Charles thinks we’re great friends. I hate that fat f**k.”
The very next game Jordan dropped 55 points and led the Chicago side to a 111-105 win. Eventually, Barkley and co. would lose the series in six games.
