Yahoo Sports Charles Barkley laments lost friendship with Michael Jordan: 'The guy was like a brother to me'
The third night of ESPN “The Last Dance” took us to the 1993 NBA Finals, where Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls faced off against the Phoenix Suns.
Charles Barkley’s inclusion in the documentary was a given with that series, but not because of his friendship with Jordan. That ship sailed years ago, and Barkley is still sad about it.
During a radio appearance on Tuesday, Barkley discussed his relationship with Jordan, or lack thereof, while praising Jordan as the best basketball player ever.
From ESPN:
"The guy was like a brother to me for, shoot, 20-something years," Barkley said on Tuesday's Waddle and Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. "At least 20-something years. And I do, I feel sadness. But to me he's still the greatest basketball player ever. I wish him nothing but the best. But, there's nothing I can do about it, brother."
As Barkley tells it, the relationship dissolved after Barkley criticized Jordan’s management of what were then the Charlotte Bobcats.
In 2012, and on the same radio show as the one he appeared Tuesday, Barkley said Jordan’s biggest problem was that he had “hired enough people around him who will disagree.” That was apparently enough for Jordan to cut him off.
"The thing that bothered me the most about that whole thing, I don't think that I said anything that bad," Barkley said. "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.' And I remember pretty much verbatim I said that. And the thing that really pissed me off about it later is Phil Jackson said the exact same thing."
Barkley contended that it was his job to be critical when the situation warrants, and Jordan’s management of the Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats has definitely warranted it.
In the decade and a half since Jordan became head of basketball operations in Charlotte (and later majority owner), the Hornets have not won a single playoff series. Kemba Walker, the best homegrown player of the team’s existence, left last offseason for the Boston Celtics after the Hornets lowballed him.
Barkley maintains Jordan’s problem is that he doesn’t have enough people to be honest with his management of the team, and saying otherwise would be hurt his integrity as an analyst.
"Listen, if you're famous, and Michael at one point was the most famous person in the world, everybody around you is either on the payroll or letting you buy drinks and dinner and flying around on your private jet. Very few of your friends are going to be honest with you. And that's very hard for any celebrity, but especially somebody of his stature.
"But I thought that was one of the reasons we were great friends. Like, 'I can ask Charles anything and I know he's going to give me a straight answer.' But 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.' That would be disingenuous."
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