When Charles Barkley revealed a key difference between him and Michael Jordan: "I'm willing to be ridiculed"

During an interview with The Vault, former NBA player Charles Barkley once revealed a key difference between Michael Jordan and himself.

After a highly successful career during which he won six NBA titles, Jordan retired in 2003, three years after Charles Barkley did. The two entered the NBA via the 1984 draft and were the third and the fifth picks, respectively. Being black athletes, both players came at a time when racism was still quite prevalent in sports.

During the interview, Charles Barkley was of the opinion that players needed to speak out against such experiences more. Speaking of black athletes, Barkley claimed that players must be willing to get ridiculed in order to speak out:

“Sure, Michael has a platform to speak out like nobody else. But he has a certain image, as a guy who's not outspoken, a guy who can get along with everybody. It's a great image, but there's no doubt he's stuck in it.

"Me? I don't worry about image, whatever that word means. I don't worry about always saying the right thing. Tiger [Woods] doesn't like to speak out either. Look what they're doing at Augusta. They're lengthening the course for one reason: to hurt Tiger. “

Barkley was referencing the PGA's lengthening of golf courses that happened in response to Tiger Woods' new style of golf, which relies on power and distance:

“Jack Nicklaus won the Masters six damn times, and he was hitting it past everybody else, and they never made a change. What they're doing to Tiger is blatant racism.

"Tiger wouldn't say it, but I got no damn problem saying it for him. We need black athletes to speak out. Michael could do it and Tiger could do it, but you have to be willing to be ridiculed. I'm willing to be ridiculed."

Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan have not spoken in ten years

In November 2022, Charles Barkley revealed that he hadn't talked to Michael Jordan for more than ten years.

Barkley and Jordan were once close friends despite being fierce rivals on the court during their time in the NBA. However, their friendship took a turn for the worse after Barkley made critical comments about Jordan's abilities as a team owner on television.

In an interview with Bleacher Report, Barkley explained the situation and how it led to the breakdown of their friendship:

"It's a really unfortunate situation for me and him. But I'm going to do my job first and foremost. I can't criticize other coaches and general managers and give him a pass because he's my best friend. I just can't do that."

The source of Barkley's criticism was Jordan's management of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets) organization. Jordan bought a minority stake in the Bobcats organization and took over their basketball operations in 2006. In 2010, he became a majority owner of the franchise.

Barkley continued:

"What I said was, 'Michael's got to surround himself with better people.' And I said, 'I worry about him being successful.' Because when you're a star—because he's the biggest star I've ever been around—everybody around you is going to tell you what you want to hear. And I didn't think he had a good enough supporting cast around him in the front office to be successful."

The former Chicago Bulls legend took offense to these comments and called Barkley, leading to a "not pleasant conversation" between the two. Barkley acknowledged that he should not have said what he did, but he believed it was the truth and felt compelled to express it as part of his job.