Charles Barkley Breaks Down Current Relationship With Michael Jordan: 'Not Back Where We Used to Be'

Charles Barkley spoke about his current relationship with Michael Jordan during an appearance on ESPN's 'The Dan Le Batard Show.'

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Once upon a time, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were great friends. Jordan was, in Barkley’s words, "like a brother," and when they weren’t competing on the basketball court, they were hanging out off of it. But that all changed back in 2012 after Barkley sounded off on MJ and the Bobcats on TNT's Inside the NBA and told his friend that he needed to surround himself with better people if he wanted to turn Charlotte into a winning franchise. As Barkley explained in 2014, that led to a falling out between the two friends.

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Barkley and Jordan appeared to mend their friendship in October, though, when Kenny Smith arranged for them to meet face-to-face at an event in New York City. The two even posed for a photo together and looked like they were back on good terms again:

Smith spoke with TMZ Sports a short time after that meeting and took credit for bringing Barkley and Jordan back together:

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But according to Barkley, the two are not back to being friends again. Far from it actually. Barkley appeared on ESPN’s The Dan Le Batard Show on Tuesday morning, and he was asked about reuniting with MJ. Barkley said that the two did say hello at the event in NYC before posing for a photo together. But he also indicated that that was as far as things went.

"I love Michael. I miss Michael’s friendship. He was a great friend to me for a long period of time, and I love him and I miss him like a brother," Barkley said. "But we just happened to be at the same place. We have not [become friends again]. I would love to mend that relationship, but we just happened to be at the same place and we took a picture together. It was a public forum. I wish Michael nothing but the best. I love him like a brother, but we are not back to where we used to be."

Barkley also talked about why he thinks Jordan no longer wants to be friends with him. "I think that some people, when you’re their friend, they expect you to have their back, no matter what," he said. "And part of my job sucks sometimes, when I have to criticize people I like or a friend. And what I said about Michael, which was that he had to do a better job of putting people around him because I thought he had too many people around him that just did what he said to do, and he took it personal. He got really angry…But hey man, I feel like I have to do my job. I have told people, I really miss the guy. He was like a brother to me for 30 years. But he got upset at me and we haven’t spoken. That was the first time I had seen or spoken to him in years."

Barkley went on to describe his brief encounter with MJ as "awkward" with neither of them knowing what to say to the other. And when he was asked whether or not he thinks an apology from Barkley would fix the fractured relationship, Barkley seems to acknowledge that it would while simultaneously saying that he’s not going to apologize for offering up his opinion as part of his job.

"If I did something wrong, that would be a totally different animal. But…I’m not going to apologize for doing my job," he said. "If you remember what happened, [the Bobcats] were getting ready to set the record for the worst NBA team ever. That’s the year it happened. It was the year the Bobcats were getting ready to set the worst record in NBA history. I think they beat it by like one game, and I said—I didn’t even think that what I said was that bad—I said, 'Michael has to do a better job.' The biggest problem with most celebrities or famous people is that everybody around you works for you. You buy all the drinks. You buy all the dinners. So nobody is ever going to be honest with you. They’re always going to tell you you’re right. That’s how the conversation got out of hand. I just said I wished he would have better people around him. That’s the toughest part of being a celebrity. Everybody is on your payroll, and you’re buying all the food and drinks. Nobody is ever going to say to you, 'You’re wrong.' They don’t want to mess up the gravy train."

It sounds like the ball is in MJ’s court when it comes to the idea of repairing this relationship. We assume it’ll happen someday, but for now, it doesn’t sound like Barkley and Jordan are going to be exchanging gifts or breaking bread during the holiday season.

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