27 March 2023 , 16:55
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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has opened up on why his relationship with Michael Jordan broke down.
The 90's NBA superstars have rightly gone down as two of of the best players of all-time after having outstanding careers. Jordan, universally seen as the greatest player of all-time, winning six NBA championships, while Barkley is infamously remembered as being the best player in NBA history to never win it all.
And while they were both rivals on the court, having a number of close battles throughout their illustrious careers, they remained a close friendship off of it - with Barkley stating that they were 'best friends'. Both men have now been retired for over 20 years, and had been seen playing golf together on a number of occasions.
But for over 10 years now, the two have not spoken a word to each other after a falling out, with Barkley explaining exactly what had happened.
Nowadays, Barkley seen as one of the top NBA analysts in the country, having a no-holds-barred attitude to criticism when he feels it is worthy. Jordan meanwhile, makes very little public appearances and almost never sits down for public interviews. However, he does remain the owner of the Charlotte Hornets - his hometown team, of which he became majority owner in 2010.
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In that team, the team have greatly struggled, having the worst record in the league in that team and making a number of mistakes with their draft selections. That's something that Barkley has been critical of, and ultimately lead to their falling out.
Barkley told CBS: "Michael disagreed with something I said, and he broke off the friendship. And what I said, I think that he don't have enough people around him that are gonna tell him, 'No'. And he got really offended, and we haven't spoken - he went ballistic.
Michael Jordan & Charles Barkley were extremely close friends for a number of years, but now do not speak"He called me, and that's the last thing I heard was, "motherf***er, f**k you! You supposed to be my boy." Barkley defended his actions and an analyst, as to why he criticised Jordan's decision-making as Charlotte Hornets owner.
He said: "I'm gonna do my job, because I have zero credibility if I criticize other people in the same boat and not criticize my best friend.
"I have an ego too. You can't be great at something... that doesn't give you the right to be a jerk. He got my number (if he wants to talk)." Jordan has not been interviewed since 2020, and has spoken very little about his relationship with Barkley.