"I wasn’t worried about Barkley" - Michael Jordan opens up on the 1993 Phoenix Suns and Charles Barkley's MVP winning season

Blocking Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ path to a three-peat was Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. Behind “Sir Charles'” MVP season, Phoenix rolled to the league’s best record and looked like legitimate contenders to end the Bulls’ two-year championship reign.

MJ and the Bulls looked fatigued during the regular season, where they only had the second-best record in the East. Despite Jordan’s incredible season, where he averaged 32.6 points and bagged his seventh straight scoring title, it felt like the defending champions were there for the taking.

In Jackie MacMullan’s Icons Club, she revealed what Michael Jordan thought of Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns’ title credentials:

“I wasn’t worried about Barkley. Cause I didn’t think he had the work ethic to beat us. And because I think he didn’t like to practice. But he was a genuine friend, don’t get me wrong! I also thought he was very funny, I enjoyed spending time with him. We liked playing golf.”

Michael Jordan’s confidence in the Bulls’ abilities was unwavering despite losing the MVP race to Charles Barkley and owning only the third-best record in the NBA. Despite three years of consistent pressure to be the best, he had no doubt that he could become a champion yet again.

The five-time MVP backed up his words in the ‘93 Finals where he put up an insane stat line of 41 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals and .7 blocks per game. “Chuck,” on the other hand, averaged 27.3 points, 13 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 steals and .5 blocks.

Jordan put a stamp on his matchup with Barkley as he recorded better numbers in all the key stats except rebounding.

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Charles Barkley badly wanted to beat Michael Jordan in the ‘93 Finals

A few of the best players in the NBA retired without winning a title due to Michael Jordan. [Photo: Insider]

After the Bulls defeated the Suns to complete their first grand slam, there were reports that Charles Barkley had gone soft on Jordan. The 1992-93 MVP was accused of partying and playing golf with Michael Jordan, which was pointed out as a reason for the Suns’ loss.

“Sir Charles” put an end to those talks with an emphatic reply courtesy of the Icons Club by Jackie McMullan:

“It’s an insult because there’s no person I wanted to beat more than I wanted to beat Michael when we played them in the finals. It’s crazy because he’s the greatest player ever and when I played against him it was really personal.”

Barkley’s only Finals appearance was arguably also his best postseason display. He played out of his mind but just could not overcome the best player of all time.