Charles Barkley on fight with former ‘best friend’ Michael Jordan

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No one has ever accused former NBA great Charles Barkley of being disingenuous.

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And so it was that the outspoken hoops commentator fell out with his former best friend Michael Jordan.

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Appearing on Tom Brady’s SiriusXM podcast Let’s Go!, Barkley said the two Hall of Famers haven’t spoken in nearly 10 years.

Barkley said the reason for the estrangement was that he “said something that offended” Jordan. He was responding to Brady’s question about blowback for his forthright opinions.

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“I think probably, me and Michael [Jordan] were best friends, that’s probably the most prominent thing,” Barkley said.

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“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.’ 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.

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“I try to surround myself with people like, ‘hey, if I’m screwing up, please tell me.’ And Michael got offended about something I said about him. And we haven’t spoken in probably almost 10 years. And he was my best friend at the time. And I love the dude like a brother and we’re both stubborn and we haven’t talked.”

The friendship was obliterated in 2012 when Sir Charles said on an ESPN radio interview that Jordan’s performance as an NBA executive was not up to par.

Barkley pointed out that at the time, Jordan was the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets (then Bobcats) and the woeful squad boasted the NBA’s worst record at 4-29.

But prior to taking the team’s reigns, the former Chicago Bulls superstar was a minority investor with final say on all decisions on the hardwood.

Barkley said in 2012: “I think the biggest problem has been I don’t know if he has hired enough people around him who he will listen to.

“One thing about being famous is the people around you, you pay all their bills so they very rarely disagree with you because they want you to pick up the check. They want to fly around on your private jet so they never disagree with you. I don’t think Michael has hired enough people around him who will disagree.”

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