From golfing with one another during the 1993 Finals to now not being on speaking terms is quite the turn of events for the friendship between Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. It’s been well over a decade since they’ve last spoken. Chuck believes if they did ever get a chance to converse, it would be MJ who would come heart in hand.
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Jordan was the one who severed ties between the two in the early 2010s. This came after Barkley criticized MJ’s friends, claiming he was surrounded by “yes-men” which is why he was failing as the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats at the time.
Chuck being a boisterous media personality, he sees it as him doing his job and casting judgement on all who he deems worthy of it. No biases. Especially when it’s someone as close to him as MJ was.
Fast-forward to present day and they have not come close to reconciling. “He got my number,” said Chuck in 2023, indicating MJ had to be the one who reaches out first to mend what they broke.
While on Fox Sports with Grant Napear, Sir Charles was asked what would happen if him and ‘His Airness’ were locked in a room together. “He [Jordan] would say, ‘You know what? You were doing your job and I overreacted and I was wrong.’”
MJ and Chuck haven’t been in the same place at the same time all too often since the day their friendship ended. The most publicized event where they were at was the NBA’s 75th Anniversary celebration in 2022 but they never spoke to one another.
“I don’t think you can have a double standard,” continued Chuck. “You can’t have favorites or guys you like or guys you dislike and go overboard.”
Despite his comments leading to a broken friendship, Chuck has no regrets about saying MJ would never be successful running a team with yes-men around him. “I think I was 100% correct. He did not do a good job when he was running a franchise.”
Jordan has since sold his majority stake in the Hornets to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall in August 2023 for $3 billion. The Hornets would never reach the second round of the Playoffs under the 6x Bulls champ.
While it does seem as though Barkley isn’t eager on reconciling, he’s reflected on the strength of their relationship before it ended. “We were great friends forever. I miss Michael. I love Michael. I wish him nothing but the best. He’s the greatest basketball player ever.”
So according to Chuck, the ball is in Jordan’s court. With him entering the media landscape for NBC, perhaps there is scope for them to have a ‘Magic Johnson-Isiah Thomas-esque’ reconciliation.
