When Charles Barkley said “there’s nobody cheaper than Scottie Pippen & Michael Jordan” to hang out with
While Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan may not be friends anymore, there was a time when the two were incredibly close.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are, without question, one of the greatest dynamic duos to ever compete in the NBA. Despite that, their off-court relationship has been questionable over the years.
Jordan, arguably thethe greatest of all time, has managed to ruffle some feathers over the years.
Recently, when young fans were waiting for LaMelo Ball outside of the parking garage they encountered Michael Jordan. Rather than taking the opportunity to speak with visibly starstruck fans, MJ ordered them to put the phone they were recording on down. While he's been quite the active philanthropist as of late, Jordan hasn't always been the most approachable figure.
According to Charles Barkley, Jordan and Pippen are also two of the cheapest individuals he's ever encountered. Back in 2014, Charles Barkley revealed that Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Scottie Pippen are three of the cheapest people he's ever met in his life. He spoke on the "Conan O'Brien Show" about his experience hanging out with Jordan and Pippen. He said:
"There's nobody cheaper than Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. Oh, yeah, [Jordan is] cheap. I always give homeless people money, and he will always slap my hand [and tell me], 'If they can ask you for spare change, they can say, 'Welcome to McDonald's, can I help you, please?'" Charles Barkley said.
Above you can see footage of Barkley discussing Jordan and Pippen being cheap. His comments begin about a minute and a half into the video.
Charles Barkley's own tipping habits
Of course, as the old saying goes, don't throw stones, if you live in a glass house. In the case of Charles Barkley, that doesn't apply. As he explained, he believes that, the more successful you are, the more you should be tipping. For someone like him, who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, that means he's sometimes tipping thousands of dollars.
"I think it's important when you're successful, the waiter, the waitresses, the blackjack dealers ... they work extremely hard. They don't get a great salary. The more successful you are, the more you should tip. I truly believe that."
(Suggested Reading: When Michael Jordan turned down $25 million to compete in boxing)
While Charles Barkley didn't give any concrete examples of Scottie Pippen being cheap, there are several stories about the former NBA steals leader being cheap. One of the many reasons Pippen earned the nickname "No Tippin' Pippen!" was because of an incident in 2000.
Pippen, who was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers at the time, was in Minnesota for a game. Saturday night Mike Tyson was set to square off with Michael Grant for his first heavyweight title defense. Pippen, who was on the road and eager to see the fight, had his agent contact a local bar to see if they were showing the fight.
When the former NBA champ found out that they weren't because they didn't think the $750 price tag was worth it, he agreed to pay for them to order it. When the fight ended with a vicious first-round knockout, Pippen felt as though the quick ending wasn't worth his money, so he refused to make good on the deal.
Despite that, Pippen isn't cheap when it comes to his own lifestyle. Above you can see his mansion tour.
(Suggested Reading: When Shaq suspected Phil Jackson was a drug user)