Charles Barkley was a force on the basketball court. At the time, Barkley was one of the largest player by weight and he always had his eyes on taking control when he needed to. That era wasn’t just Barkley, though. Another player by the name of Michael Jordan was certainly dominating as well. The two had a famous falling out back in the day, and Barkley still thinks about it.
Speaking to Tom Brady on the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast this week, the TNT analyst said his breakup with MJ over comments he made on TV was the biggest regret of his media career.
He said: “I think probably, me and Michael were best friends … that’s probably the most prominent thing. Michael Jordan, losing his friendship was probably the most prominent thing that’s happened to me, but I was being honest about what I thought. I said, ‘Listen, the toughest thing about Michael, he’s got to put better people around him.’”
These comments didn’t sit too well with Jordan as that’s when he would cease contact with Barkley.
He continued: “Because the toughest thing, when you’re famous, 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 like, hey, if I’m screwing up, please tell me.”
Charles Barkley alluded to Michael having people around him who wouldn’t check him if need be or tell him on what needed to be improved upon – if there was anything at all that needed it. Barkley would then say that Michael would be very offended by these comments, but Barkley didn’t go into if anything was said to him directly by Michael.
He would close: “Michael got offended … and we haven’t spoken in probably almost 10 years.”
Special thanks to Outkick.
