Charles Barkley Reveals He Hasn’t Spoken to Former ‘Best Friend’ Michael Jordan in Almost 10 Years: ‘We’re Both Stubborn’

22.11.2022 - 23:37 / usmagazine.com

From friends to rivals. Former NBA player Charles Barkley revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Michael Jordan in nearly a decade after they had a falling out.

While speaking with Tom Brady about his outspoken nature on the Monday, November 21 episode of the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray,” the NBA Hall of Famer, 59, explained that the Space Jam star, 59, was hurt by some of his previous comments. “Michael Jordan, losing his friendship was probably the most prominent thing that’s happened to me [because of my bluntness]. But I was being honest about what I thought,” Barkley said.

He continued: “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.'”

The sports analyst’s comments “offended” Jordan — and the pair stopped speaking as a result. “We haven’t spoken in probably almost 10 years,” Barkley said. “And he was my best friend at the time. I love the dude like a brother, and we’re both stubborn and we haven’t talked.”

Though he regrets that it cost him his friendship with his fellow basketball legend, the Inside the NBA star doesn’t plan on holding back his feelings any time soon. “[My former teammate Julius “Dr. J” Erving] was trying to coach me on how to deal with the media,” Barkley recalled. “He said, ‘You have to make a choice. You’re going to be honest or try to make everybody like you.’ … I realized it doesn’t matter what I say. Half the people are