Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were fierce competitors on the court, but off the court, they were good friends. At least for the first few decades.
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Jordan and Barkley often played golf together during the offseason, and they would frequently hang out in each other’s company. They also appeared in several commercials together, including a popular ad for McDonald’s in which they engaged in a game of “HORSE” for a Big Mac.
However, their friendship hit a rough patch in 1993, when Barkley criticized Jordan’s decision to retire from basketball and pursue a career in baseball. Barkley felt that Jordan was wasting his talent and could have accomplished even more in basketball if he had continued playing.
Despite this disagreement, Jordan and Barkley remained friends. They would continue to play golf together and hang out off the court.
Charles Barkley calls Michael Jordan cheap because he didn’t tip well
Barkley released a book about his thoughts called I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It in 2003. In one of the chapters called ‘Being Rich’, he discussed how Jordan made money for everyone in the NBA, but was still cast out of the Bulls’ organization after his retirement.
He also made sure to poke fun at Jordan’s tipping habits. Michael, as is now well known, was not exactly a generous tipper during his initial years as a celebrity:
“The funny thing about this is that Michael is so goddamn cheap. Michael ain’t the most popular guy in Las Vegas. He’ll win $1 million in the casino and not tip the people.”
Michael Jordan once tipped a waitress a $5 chip for a drink during a game of poker in Vegas with Wayne Gretzky.
Wayne stopped the waitress, removed the $5 chip, grabbed one of the $100 chips on Jordan’s side of the table, & gave it to her.
“That’s how we tip in Vegas, Mike.” 🎰 pic.twitter.com/oZVZK4E8MF
— Hockey Of Tomorrow (@HockeyTomorrow) December 5, 2022
‘I don’t like to just walk by homeless people. If I see a homeless person, I want to give them some money, even if it’s just a little something.”
“Michael saw me giving a homeless person some money one day and grabbed me and said, “Quit doing that. If they’re able to ask you for some spare change they can say ‘Welcome to McDonald’s, can I help you please?'”
Jordan made more money than many NBA teams in 1997
The Chicago Bulls had a wage bill of over $61 million for the 1997-98 NBA season. This amount was 226% of the soft salary cap that year. Jordan’s remuneration of $33.4 million alone comprised over 54% of their contract value for the season.
This amount was more than the payroll of 19 other NBA teams that year. Only 9 other teams had a higher salary bill for that year, including the New York Knicks.
