Coming off his 5th championship and Finals MVP in 1997, Michael Jordan was interviewed by Keenan Ivory Wayans. The main question that came up was how Jordan stayed friends with rival players. Every bit the competitor, MJ revealed how he managed to maintain an amicable relationship with the player he defeated regularly.
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Mike talked about being friends with some of the people he went up against regularly. While the public felt that they hated each other, he revealed how they were good friends and had a certain camaraderie with one another.
“Charles is probably one of my best friends. My adversaries, I get along with them with no problem. I mean, Patrick Ewing. We probably compete against each other all the time. And people may think we hate each other but we are real good friends.”
MJ named Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas as some of the few players who he had a certain respect for. Judging from the interviews that would come in the future, these players had the same amount of respect for Jordan too.
But despite Charles Barkley being one of his closest friends, Jordan revealed how he could say anything to him and get away with it.
“When I’m hanging out with Charles, I mean, I can say whatever I want to Charles. They never won. He’s in second place first. But he knows there’s a certain rapport that it’s not demeaning to Charles. I’m motivating Charles to get on my level.”
Jordan and Barkley were famously very close friends, and their friendship, like all relationships, had its ups and downs.
Jordan and Barkley’s strained relationship
Jordan and Barkley came into the league in the same NBA draft. And over the years, the two formed a great bond with one another. Mike and Charles would often hang out together, play golf with each other, and make television appearances.
The two remained friends all through the 1990s and the early 2000s. However, their relationship got strained once Barkley took a job with Turner Sports and decided to criticize MJ’s decisions as the owner of the Charlotte Hornets.
According to SportsIllustrated, Barkley once revealed what went down between him and Mike.
“I lost my best friend because I criticized him. Guys can always say about me, ‘Charles, you might not like him, but he’s gonna be fair,’ because of the situation with Michael. I always said, ‘Wait a minute, I criticize other general managers. Just because the guy is my best friend, if I have a double standard, that’s not fair.”
Since then, the two haven’t been able to make amends and find some common ground to restore their bond. And while Jordan was the one who got upset, Barkley has said numerous times that he too has an ego and would not make the first move to try to mend their relationship.
