HOOPS HATE ON: Behind the Charles Barkley-Michael Jordan feud

Article content

NBA legends Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were once the best of pals.

Article content

They golfed, gambled and galivanted together.

Article content

But for the past 10 years, the former friends have been at war and Barkley is pulling back the curtain on their famous feud. If fact, Barkley says the last time the pair spoke, Jordan told him to go “f— himself.”

In 2012, Barkley lambasted Jordan’s executive abilities on NBA on TNT, suggesting he wasn’t doing a great job as the newly-minted owner of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets).

Article content

Jordan called his old friend.

“He went ballistic, and he called me and the last thing I heard was ‘motherf—–, f— you, you’re supposed to be my boy,’” Barkley said on the All The Smoke podcast.

“I said, ‘Man, I’ve got to do my job.’ We haven’t spoken since that night and that was probably close to 10 years ago.”

Article content

But the former Philadelphia 76ers star said last November that he hopes some day the two men can “get past the bulls—” — but he said it’s on Jordan to do the mending.

“That’s on his end. He was my best friend at the time, and I love the guy and I miss the guy,” Barkley said.

What Barkley said about the legendary Chicago Bulls star was that he would not be successful because of the inner circle he had surrounded himself with. Barkley reasoned he couldn’t slam other executives and not slam Jordan.

And he told Tom Brady the same thing on his Sirius XM Let’s Go podcast.

“I thought it would blow over, to be honest with you. And he’s stubborn — and I’m stubborn — and that’s it,” Barkley said.

Jordan has never publicly spoken about Barkley’s comments.

As for Barkley, he recently inked a 10-year deal with TNT that’s believed to be somewhere in the vicinity of nine figures.

[email protected]

@HunterTOSun