When Charles Barkley bantered about Michael Jordan on his appearance: “Every man who got $500 million is good looking”
During his time in the NBA, Charles Barkley had his fair share of rivals. One of the main ones was Michael Jordan.
Like most stars in the 1990s, Charles Barkley was tasked with battling MJ and his dominant Chicago Bulls team. While he couldn't take him down on the court, the Phoenix Suns legend made sure to get his shots in when he could.
While appearing on Conan, Charles Barkley opened up about his former NBA rival, most notably about how people overstate his looks. Barkley feels that people only call Michael Jordan attractive because of his money. As we know, MJ has become an incredibly successful businessman following his playing days.
"People tell me he is good looking. First of all, he is not good looking. Listen, every man who got 500 million dollars is good looking.
"Seriosuly, if he was a plummer, nobody would be saying he's good looking. Ain't no way."
At this moment, Michael Jordan has a reported net worth of $1.7 billion.
Charles Barkley makes another harsh comment about Michael Jordan
Charles Barkley had fun talking about Michael Jordan's looks, but that wasn't the only issue he brought up. The Hall of Fame forward also took a crack at one of MJ's current basketball endeavors.
In the early 2010s, Jordan became an owner of the now-Charlotte Hornets. During his time as owner, they have been among the league's worst franchises. Since 2010, they've made the playoffs three times and have never gotten out of the first round.
While speaking with Conan about Jordan, Barkley mentioned that he doesn't think the Chicago Bulls legend is doing an excellent job as an owner.
"I love Michael, he is one of my great friends, but he just hasn't done a good job."
Barkley may not have known it, but comments like this went on to be the beginning of the end of his relationship with Jordan. The Bulls legend took words like this to heart and eventually severed ties with Barkley. Almost ten years later, the two still do not speak.
Similar to his playing days, Jordan is incredibly competitive. Hearing someone like Barkley bring up his shortcomings like this hurt him to the core. From there, he no longer considered the fellow NBA legend a friend.
To this day, people around the game still talk about their relationship fading. Barkley has admitted that hurting MJ has been one of his biggest regrets.