When Charles Barkley argued Michael Jordan was better than him only because he "played with bums in Philly"
Charles Barkley once felt he was the best basketball player in the world. The Hall of Famer shared that he believed his teammates with the Philadelphia 76ers prevented him from being viewed as better than Michael Jordan.
While speaking on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Barkley discussed his trade to the Phoenix Suns:
"When I got there, I was sitting down with the owner... and I said, 'It's my team, I'm the best player here...' I said, 'We're going to the Finals'. They said, 'How do you know that?' I said, 'Because, I think I'm the best d**n player in the world'. I said, 'Michael Jordan just better than me because he's got better players, I'm playing with bums in Philly.'"
Watch Charles Barkley's comments on being better than Michael Jordan below (starting at the 17:25 mark):
Barkley did lead the Suns to the 1992-1993 NBA Finals while also winning the MVP that season. Despite averaging 27.3 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field in the series, the eleven-time All-Star's thoughts on being the best player in the league changed that series. Speaking on episode six of The Last Dance, Barkley said:
"In Game 2, I played as well as I could play, and Michael just outplayed me. That was probably the first time in my life that I felt like there was a better basketball player in the world than me, to be honest with you."
Michael Jordan averaged 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 50.8% from the field and 40.0% from the three-point range while leading the Chicago Bulls to their third championship in as many seasons. His scoring average during the series remains the highest mark in NBA Finals history.
Watch highlights of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley's Game 2 duel in the 1993 NBA Finals below:
Charles Barkley has no plans to give up gambling
Charles Barkley has been open about how much he enjoys gambling. Speaking with GQ in 2010, the Hall of Famer revealed that he does not plan on giving up the habit anytime soon, saying:
"Yeah, I like to gamble. And I'm going to keep gambling. And I just have to tell people, if they don't like it, they can kiss my a**. F**k 'em. You know, I quit gambling for a while. But then I was like, 'Why am I quitting gambling? I don't have a problem.'"
Charles Barkley estimated that he had lost nearly $10 million in gambling losses. He recently shared that he factors those losses into his contract negotiations.