Charles Barkley has landed in hot waters several times throughout his career for his candid and honest remarks. In other words, Barkley’s unfiltered opinions have often ended up offending people in the NBA community because of their raw nature. And that is a big reason too why NBA fans love and respect the 60-year-old so much. Kevin Durant and Michael Jordan are probably the biggest names in the league who have taken offense to the Chuckster’s statements in the past. During a recent interview with CBS News, Barkley addressed his fallout with his former friend and rival Michael Jordan, making it very clear that he has no intentions of taking the initiative to mend their severed relationship.
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Charles Barkley signed a staggering $200 million contract last year for his stint with TNT as an NBA analyst. However, at one point in time, Sir Charles thought he’d be removed from air because of his propensity to make tongue in cheek jokes, that are not always politically current by modern standards. But his reservations were soon dismantled by a massive contract extension from TNT that was prompted by fans’ overwhelming support for him.
Charles Barkley explains why he refuses to call Michael Jordan
During his sit-down with Jon Wertheim from CBS’ 60 minutes, Barkley addressed a lot of topics, including his dispute with Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. While talking about the sensitivity of players in the modern NBA, Wertheim brought up Jordan’s disagreement with him.
In response, Barkley detailed the cause of the argument, “Michael disagreed with somethin’ I said, and he broke off the friendship. And what I said, I think that he don’t have enough people around him that are gonna tell him, ‘No.’ And he got really offended, and we haven’t spoken. But, Jon, I really, I’m gonna do my job. Because, I have zero credibility if I criticize other people in the same boat and not criticize my best friend.”
After hearing Barkley’s point of view, Wertheim asked him why not initiate a truce by taking up the phone and calling Jordan to mend things. The 1993 NBA MVP replied, “I got a ego too, Jon. (laugh) You can’t be great at something, like, y– that doesn’t give you the right to be a jerk…He got my number.”
Barkley and Jordan were close friends back in the day
Despite their current issues, Barkley and Jordan were close friends back in the day. The duo used to play golf together all the time, even before facing each other in important playoff matchups, like the 1993 NBA Finals.
They used to gamble together as well, and often took trips to Atlantic city. However, Jordan looked out for Barkley and provided him some very good advice at times. For instance, he told the Chuckster to ask Nike for stock options instead of just money in his shoe deal. Barkley decided to follow Jordan’s advice, which multiplied his revenue from Nike exponentially.
