Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were best friends during their playing careers. Jordan, who won the NBA title 6 times with Scottie Pippen, did not have the best of relationships with him. The two were apparently not on talking terms during Jordan’s second stint. After his retirement, Pippen joined the Houston Rockets alongside Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon. He left after featuring briefly, but not before leaving a sour and child-like comment about Barkley.
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After a disastrous season, Pippen, who was 33 and only expected to be a role player, forced another move after publicly vilifying Charles Barkley. This irked both Jordan and the Phoenix Suns legend. Barkley claimed in an interview with Sports Illustrated that Jordan knew Scottie Pippen “couldn’t be counted upon” since their time together at the Bulls.
Charles Barkley surrendered $1.2 million in wages for Scottie Pippen’s move
After Michael Jordan retired, Barkley surrendered $1.2 million in wages to allow the Rockets to sign Scottie Pippen. He was hopeful of helping the Rockets compete in a packed Western Conference alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and Pippen.
However, all three of them along with Pippen were aging stars who were not in their prime when the move happened. The Rockets’ high-profile stars had little chemistry and the team slumped to a first-round exit against the LA Lakers.
Pippen ended up pushing for another move and told ESPN in an interview that Barkley was fat and overrated. While Barkley was obviously angry, he told SI that Michael Jordan never believed in Scottie Pippen. Jordan had apparently called Barkley within minutes of hearing what Pippen had said:
“I don’t know if Michael was madder that Scottie said all that stuff or that he dragged his name into it. I told him I was O.K. with it. I knew about Scottie. The whole league knew he was a guy you couldn’t count on. You can fool the media and the fans, but you can’t fool the players. Scottie was exposed long before this.”
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen had issues during their playing days as well
Pippen later revealed that he never apologized for initially making the comments against Barkley. Speaking to SiriusXM in 2021, Pippen claimed that the Houston Rockets’ move was never about winning championships. He simply wanted to help Barkley win one. And he wasn’t trying to match MJ. But the two were never on good terms.
It was a known fact that Jordan and Pippen had issues long before the latter made the comments about Barkley. Dennis Rodman had revealed that he, Pippen, and Jordan did not have a single conversation during the Bulls’ second 3-peat.
In his 2021 book “Unguarded,” Pippen had claimed that Jordan’s portrayal of him, and other Chicago Bulls teammates in “The Last Dance” had irked him.
The former small forward had said that the documentary was an attempt of giving the entire credit to Michael Jordan, something which was true during their playing days as well. While the two formed quite a duo on the court, it is clear that they did not quite get along off the court, even during their glory days.
