Ahmad Rashad, better known as Bobby Moore, had a special chance to be at dinner with Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan, a night before their final game in 1998. According to Moore’s recollection, Barkley broke down at dinner and even asked MJ to give him his game shoes after their upcoming contest, to which Jordan obliged, but not before claiming that he would sign 45 [not 23] on the shoe because that’s how many points he was planning to drop against Barkley and the Rockets.
His Airness and the Bulls had reached a stalemate in their relationship that year. MJ had let the media know that if Coach Jackson left, he would retire, and that’s exactly what happened. So the 1998 season also acted as the Bull’s farewell tour, and Jordan’s best friend Charles Barkley was looking forward to their contest.
The duo even went on dinner a day prior, and Rashad [ a common friend of Barkley and Jordan] tagged along. There was apparently a healthy serving of trash talk during the meal. Rashad recalled the conversation in his courtside commentary the following day,
“Charles Barkley: ‘In case this is the last time we play against each other, can I have your shoes?’
Michael Jordan: ‘Yes. I’ll even put number 45 on there. That’s how many points I’m gonna give you tomorrow.’
However, Jordan wasn’t able to keep his promise as No.23 exited the contest with 40 quick points while shooting an efficient 58% from the field. Barkley on the other hand didn’t start and actually came off the bench for 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists and only played 28 minutes on the night. The contest ended on a 109-94 scoreline. The result of the contest didn’t seem to go Barkley’s way, and MJ made sure of that.
After the game, Rashad even caught up with Jordan to ask him if he had given Sir Charles his game shoes as he had promised, to which the Bulls superstar answered affirmatively. Jordan even added that,
“Oh yeah. He can almost certainly put the scoring on the side of it though because the last thing he said last night was that we may have five championships but he wanted the last win if that so happens to be the last one.”
Despite the on-court shoving matches and verbal banter, the duo seemed to have remained friends for the longest time. But unfortunately, that too didn’t last long as Barkley’s harsh commentary on Jordan’s management of his Hornets led to their friendship crashing out.
Barkley explains his falling out with Jordan
Barkley and Air Jordan were born only 3 days apart, but they haven’t spoken to each other for almost two decades now. King Charles and His Airness were close during their time in the league and their bond grew even stronger when the two were representing the USA with The Dream Team.
Later, some comments from Barkley annoyed MJ and they haven’t spoken since. Barkley told 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim that Jordan broke off the friendship over comments Barkley made about the Charlotte Hornets. Jordan was the majority owner of the NBA team, who were struggling to win games.
The Philadelphia 76ers legend confessed that he wasn’t interested in mending his relationship with Jordan if he had to be the bigger person and call up his long-time friend. “I have an ego too” exclaimed Barkley while explaining his reason for holding off on trying to console MJ. The Round Mound of Rebound thinks it’s time Jordan stopped being a jerk and approached him if he sought to continue a relationship. But as the years passed, the likelihood of it happening looked slimmer.