The relationship between Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan is quite the complex one. A lot of bound Chuck and MJ together revolved around the world of basketball, gambling, and of course, golf. Barkley saw Jordan place bets of stratostrophic value out on the green and stayed out of it all because he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up. However, a 30 year old Charles in 1993 did tell Charlie Rose that he didn’t think Jordan was all too great at the game of golf and even gave quite the hilarious analogy on why he thinks that.
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One of the most exorbitant amounts of money that Chuck ever saw Jordan indulge in was putting up $300,000 or more during rounds of golf. Given that ‘His Airness’ was earning money on levels different to that of Charles, it’s understandable as to why he was hesitant to put up similar amounts of cash. “He’s got so much money, a couple of hundred thousand dollars is nothing to him,” said Barkley to Dan Patrick about the whole ordeal.
Charles Barkley takes a hilarious dig at Jordan’s golfing skills
Charles Barkley and his obsession with the game of golf has spanned decades, similar to Jordan and his love for the game as well. The two, given how close they were with one another during their playing days, golfed together quite frequently.
During a December 1993 appearance on the ‘Charlie Rose Show’, Chuck was asked a variety of questions. One of them was about his bouts of golf with Michael Jordan. Barkley, who considered MJ to be a close friend, cheekily threw him under the bus and took hilariously sly digs at his game.
“No, I play golf with him. I don’t bet with him, but I play golf with him. Hey, I’m stepping up. I’m saying if he’s playing as bad as all these books say he’s playing, I must be the only one he’s better than.”
Stories revolving around MJ’s less than stellar ‘prowess’ at golf were often circulated. Whether it was him losing $57,000 to notorious golf hustler ‘Slim’ Bouler or him losing to Chuck Daly in Barcelona in 1992, Jordan’s reputation on the green wasn’t all too great when it came to skill
Charles Barkley’s swing had MJ dying of laughter
Before they had their fallout in 2013, Jordan and Barkley were as close as friends in the NBA could be. Even after retirement, the two would regularly show one another love. In one instance, MJ appeared on the ‘Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ in 1999 and hilariously roasted Chuck’s golf swing.
“Oh, I remember that one. You know what he said? It was 103 yards and he hit a sandwich and it went behind everyone, but he said ‘I hit too much club.’ No s**t!” said MJ. This was in reference to Chuck’s golf swing being so bad that it deviated from the course altogether and hit a random man and his food.
