*Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team and faced off against each other many times over the years. The 1993 NBA Finals is one of their unforgettable games. Barkley was playing for Phoenix Suns at that time. Their face-off in the finals was widely covered in “The Last Dance,” a Jordan and the Bulls documentary.
But even with all these, the two once-good friends have not said a word to each in almost ten years since they fell out. The long period of silence between the former friends and NBA players started in 2012 when Barkley openly criticized Jordan on a radio show.
Barkley had quite unpleasant views on how Jordan was operating the Charlotte Hornets franchise. For him, Jordan was surrounded by only yes men, and so he needed someone around who could criticize him.
Barkley was recently hosted by Tom Brady on Nov. 21 in an episode of SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray” podcast.
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Barkley got to explain that his 2012 comments turned Jordan the wrong way.
“Michael Jordan, losing his friendship was probably the most prominent thing that’s happened to me [because of my bluntness],” he said, according to Us Weekly. “But I was being honest about what I thought.”
He also said that Jordan needed better people around him because he was famous.
“I said, ‘Listen, the toughest thing about Michael, he’s got to put better people around him.’ Because the toughest thing [about] when you’re famous [is] they’re on your private jet, you’re buying all the drinks; you’re buying all the dinners. Very few people are gonna be honest with you. And I try to surround myself with people [and say] like, ‘Hey, if I’m screwing up, please tell me.’”
Barkley confirmed that Jordan was his best friend when he made the remarks that the latter didn’t take kindly.
“I love the dude like a brother, and we’re both stubborn, and we haven’t talked,” he added, before later adding that he had no intention of being a people pleaser, though he regrets he lost a friend.
