Charles Barkely took on an ESPN interview to speak on his fallout with Michael Jordan, a lost friendship that he truly feels sad for.
While mentioning that there’s a 20-plus-years of friendship between him MJ, Barkely said the following during ESPN’s Waddle and Silvy show:
“The guy was like a brother to me for, shoot, 20-something years,” Barkley said Tuesday on ESPN radio’s “Waddle and Silvy” show. “At least 20-something years.”
Like most basketball fans already know, Barkley confirms that his friendship with MJ was cut off back in 2012 when he criticized Jordan for being a bad owner for the Charlotte Hornets.
“I’m pretty sure I said, ‘As much as I love Michael, until he stops hiring them kiss-asses, and his best friends, he’s never going to be successful as a general manager,'” Barkley said during his interview.
The former Phoenix Suns superstar says that he felt like it was his duty as a broadcaster to be honest about Michael’s failures and even says he thought that’s why he and Jordan had such a good relationship to begin with.
“Part of my job [as an analyst] is, because I can’t go on TV and say, ‘Another general manager sucks’ and then just because Michael’s like a brother to me say, ‘He’s doing a fantastic job,'” Barkley says. “That would be disingenuous.”
Previously, Barkely stood his ground and said that he won’t apologize to MJ for doing his job. Back in 2016, the NBA legend appeared on 97.5 The Fanatic where he talked about the infamous feud with Jordan which originated when Barkley publicly criticized Jordan.
Barkley’s friend and “Inside the NBA” co-host Kenny Smith advised Charles to suck it up and apologize to Jordan, but Sir Chuck makes it clear that ain’t ever gonna happen. Today, the former Suns superstar says it’s all actually really sad, but says the ball is in Jordan’s court when it comes to mending the bridge.
“Oh, he’s got my number. He can call me.” added Barkley. Will a conversation between the two of them happen anytime soon? Only time can tell.
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