Amid all the LeBron James free agency landing spot chaos that has dominated the league headlines, an unexpected update dropped from a different era of NBA superstars.
Charles Barkley recently shared an update on his bond with Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan after years of silence.
Charles Barkley Discloses Closing Decades-Old Rift With Michael Jordan
The controversial fallout between the two dates back to 2012, when Barkley delivered a harsh critique of Jordan’s performance with the Charlotte Bobcats.
Barkley had specifically targeted the front office, claiming that the five-time MVP surrounded himself with voices who refused to challenge his basketball decisions.
“I love Michael, but he just has not done a good job,” Barkley had stated back then. “Even though he is one of my great friends, I can’t get on here and tell you he’s done a great job. He has not done a great job, plain and simple.”
The criticism was valid, given that the Bobcats finished the 2011-12 season with a 7-59 record and ended on a 23-game losing streak.
Jordan took the criticism as a personal betrayal, leading the two NBA legends to sever all communication.
However, the two took the first step in repairing that bond in April this year with a phone call from a mutual friend, Vince Coleman.
During a conversation on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” on Friday, Barkley detailed the phone call that led to him and Jordan talking again.
“… I was sitting at the house a couple of months ago, and his [Jordan’s] name popped up. And I said ‘What’s up [expletive]?’ That’s when we talked to each other,” Barkley recalled. “He said ‘No [expletive] it’s MJ and they were playing golf together, and I said ‘Oh man how you doing…'”
Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are going to reconcile their relationship pic.twitter.com/T8Z3k511yg
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) July 17, 2026
“And we’re like, let’s let this [expletive] go. We were great friends, brothers for a long time, and both of us [were] being selfish and stupid,” Barkley continued. “… As soon as we get a chance, we’re gonna get together. I’m gonna go down to his golf course and play with him for a couple of days.”
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Before the rift and the promise of a reunion over the greens, their dynamic defined an entire era in the NBA.
Jordan and Barkley entered the league together in the 1984 Draft, establishing themselves as superstar-level talents.
They shared the floor as teammates on the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, and this relationship peaked on the hardwood during the 1993 NBA Finals.
