Due to their intertwined NBA journey from the 1984 Draft to sharing the court on the Dream Team, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan once featured a close bond. However, their friendship has hit a rough patch lately. “Michael disagreed with something I said, and he broke off the friendship,” revealed Charles Barkley last year in an interview with 60 Minutes.
He added, “And what I said, I think that he doesn’t have enough people around him that are gonna tell him, ‘No.’ And he got really offended, and we haven’t spoken.” Yet, amidst the echoes of Barkley-Jordan’s past disagreements, the simmering beef between them appeared to have mellowed into a murmur.
Recently, Charles Barkley sat with the team of Graham Bensinger to share his insights about the “Inside the NBA” show. Meanwhile, he also shed light on Michael’s unwavering support that helped him to quadruple his income. The glimpse of the interview was then posted on the official YouTube account with the title, “Charles Barkley: Sabotaging my NBA Draft stock, Michael Jordan and ’92 Dream Team.“
“Well, I think that Michael has always been like a brother to me. Michael is a great businessman. If you go back and look at it, Michael was probably the first jock businessman. Magic Johnson has done some tremendous things, but Michael Jordan is probably the first jock businessman…quadrupled my income,” started off Charles. But what made Charles speak up about Jordan after remaining unspoken for years?
Turning a tip into millions
So, it’s none other than good deeds. “You know, developing his own brand, he talked to me and taught me about stock options, you know, because I was making a nice chunk of change from Nike,” revealed Charles. Notably, the Chicago Bull’s star advised the 61-year-old to “stop taking so much cash” and “take stock options.”
At this moment, Barkley already made $3 million per year, which is an impressive amount. But Jordan saw a bigger picture. And, guess what? This turned out to be the golden decision for the 11-time NBA All-Star as he negotiated a new contract and started earning quadruple of what he made before.
Eventually, he went on to increase his annual income year after year. Now, he amounts to $60 million in net worth just because of a small tip from his long-time friend. Moving on, Charles added, “I think I’m going to think I’m a great friend to anybody. And what I mean by that is I don’t judge my friends.” So now, the question is: Does this mean the feud morphed into a tale of reconciliation?
