Whenever a former player becomes an analyst, they are bound to offend some of their friends at some point. Since Charles Barkley has a tendency to offend everyone, it only makes sense that he would anger some of his close friends at various points throughout the NBA season. He did just that with Michael Jordan a few months ago when he criticized him for being a bad owner. According to Sir Charles, M.J. let him know that he was not happy about it.
“Hey man, listen, you guys almost got me killed,” Barkley said during an interview with ESPN Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy earlier this week. “Remember the time when I came on a show and said I can’t guarantee you that Michael is going to be a good GM. Michael called me and almost killed me man!
“I can’t tell you (what he said). It wasn’t positive. Let me say this: Michael is one of my best friends. I love him like a brother. He’s always been there for me, but I do have to do my job. I do have to do my job. Like I told him I can’t get on radio and TV and say you have done a good job no matter how much I love you. He was not happy.”
Barkley added that he doesn’t even enjoy listening to other people criticize Jordan, let alone doing it himself. We have no way of knowing for certain whether or not M.J. was actually mad at Barkley, but he shouldn’t have been. Charles has a job to do — even if he sucks at it sometimes and says ridiculous things just to cause a stir. A quick look at the numbers will tell you that the Bobcats have had no success since they became a franchise in 2004. As the owner of the team, those failures have ultimately been Jordan’s responsibility.
