During the glorious years Michael Jordan dominated the NBA, his closest friend was Charles Barkley. There are countless stories and videos of them joking around on the court. But that was until the ball was tipped. During the game, those two forgot all about their friendship as they turned into fierce competitors, all in the interest of getting one up over the other.
A leaked video when Charles Barkley was with the Houston Rockets, shows just how competitive it was between the two. The audio beings with ‘The Round Mound of Rebound’ shouting out.
“This isn’t fair,” Barkley exclaims. To this Jordan asked him to shut his mouth.
That is a foul. I know he’s Michael Jordan. Every time he raises his voice at y’all, y’all give him 5 calls in a row.
Charles Barkley turned to the officials and said in response to Michael Jordan
Hearing this, Jordan said with a sly smile, “You would have done nothing.“
Every time he raises his voice at y’all… y’all give him calls.
Charles Barkley again reiterated
After shooting his free throws, Michael Jordan stayed at the line to intentionally bump his friend. All to show that he is the one dominating them in that game.
Many star players get the benefit of foul calls from officials. Jordan was the biggest star of them all at that time. Knowing that Barkley tried to make a point that it was not fair for Jordan to benefit from fouls. Jordan and his Chicago Bulls teammates actually received almost half the foul calls that Barkley and his Rockets received from the officials in that game.
FULL Audio Of Charles Barkley Talking Sh*t About Michael Jordan To The Refs👀:
Barkley: “That is a foul… I know he’s Michael Jordan”
Jordan: “Shut up”
Barkley: “Everytime he raise his voice at y’all… y’all give him calls” pic.twitter.com/RnjspPCtPI
— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) September 8, 2024
But then, they did not have to do much to win the game as Barkley was missing his fellow superstar teammates. This shows that when the two then-friends competed, they competed at the highest level.
Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan and their beef that ended their friendship
If this duel between the two stars was any indication of a friendship, one might wonder how the two have not spoken in more than a decade. They were as thick as thieves for more than double that time. Moreover, Jordan did say on the Oprah Winfrey Show that he loved Barkley because of his honesty.
But it seems that honesty was too much to take when Charles Barkley openly questioned his friend’s ability to lead a team as an executive. After the former league MVP said that he received a heated phone call from his friend that ended their relationship.
Since then, they have crossed paths a few times but have not spoken to each other. Most notably at the NBA’s 75th Anniversary celebrations when Jordan shook hands with every other member except his former friend. The NBA community hopes one day they will set their egos aside and hug it out.
