It is well known that Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley don't get along particularly well. In fact, it is difficult to find too many friends among the ex-teammates and rivals that His Airness had during his professional career, something that the series The Last Dance, broadcasted by ESPN and Netflix, is highlighting.
The public complaints of many of his contemporaries about the behavior of the star are putting a player who was already in the media spotlight even more, and who is even more of a protagonist with that documentary that is being an ode to his career, even though the title suggests the narration of the last season in which the Chicago Bulls conquered the championship, the 1997-98.
With Barkley, in particular, the distance was motivated by some comments from the TNT Sports analyst about Jordan's skills as a manager, something that, as we know, he has not done as well (by far) as his time as a player, publishes Spanish newspaper AS.
The power forward and the shooting guard had a solid friendship in the 90s and shared a team in the Dream Team that won the gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games, as well as facing each other in the 1993 Finals. However, time has distanced both characters, who now only communicate (apparently and as far as we know) through the crossed statements they make in the media.
That's what Barkley has done, who already recently spoke about the failed relationship with his generation teammate. Now he has done it again, but he has also criticized Jordan for some attitudes he had in the past, something that is highly criticized considering what is being seen in the documentary.
The analyst specifically mentioned the episodes that the shooting guard had with Steve Kerr or Scott Burrell, suggesting that he always picked on the weakest. "He has selective prosecution. He knows who to bother," he said, adding that Michael is "incredible", but that "there were guys you couldn't treat like that."
"He only went after the ones he knew he could," he added, explicitly mentioning the examples of Kerr and Burrell, who were not part of the American competition's elite.
In his statements, collected by CBS Sports, Barkley also refers to his relationship with Jordan, denying that there will be a reconciliation in the short term.
"I don't think I've said anything so bad. I thought one of the reasons I could speak freely is because we were great friends. Precisely because Michael is a brother to me, I can't say he's doing a good job when he's not," Barkley defended himself.
The Suns star recounts just another episode against Jordan, one of many that are emerging as a result of a documentary that is exposing some traits of his behavior. (D)