Charles Barkley's near mishap evokes uncontrollable laughter from Michael Jordan: "I think he killed somebody with this"
Back in the 1990s, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were close friends often seen enjoying each other's company. Golf was a shared interest, though Jordan's skill level in the sport far exceeded Barkley's.
In a 1999 interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jordan revealed his passion for golf after retiring from basketball.
"At least 54 a day. One day, I played 81 holes in one day," Jordan answered Leno how many holes he plays in one day. "I don't have a job, what else can I do."
Leno and Jordan discussed golf course etiquette, and Leno humorously showed a video clip of Charles Barkley's golf swing, which resulted in an extremely wayward shot that went into the stands.
"I think he killed somebody with this. It went into the the stands and you literally fall down (laughing)," says Leno.
"The people don't move. You know the funny thing, when the people saw him hit the shot and they knew it's too long, none of them move. I thought that was the funniest thing ever since," tells Jordan.
Why Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley aren't friends anymore
The friendship between Jordan and Barkley took a hit when Barkley criticized Jordan's management style as the general manager of the Charlotte Hornets.
In an interview on the All The Smoke podcast, Barkley mentioned that he doesn't know if their friendship can return to where it was. Barkley emphasized that his comments were made in his capacity as a basketball analyst and that he didn't want a double standard when critiquing other GMs and coaches.
"That would be on his end, Matt," Barkley answered. "He was my best friend at the time and I love the guy and I missed the guy but you know I got to do my job. What I said was- first of all, I don't think it's fair for me to critique other GMs and coaches and have a double standard."
"What I said about Michael, I said I don't know if he's ever going to be successful because of the people around him. I think he hires too many of his friends and because your friends don't ever tell you 'no', the hard thing of being famous is because you are paying all the bills," Barkley specified.
Michael Jordan already sold his majority shares with the Charlotte Hornets and pocketed roughly $3 billion and it ended his 13-year tenure with the organization.