Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan have a former MLB All-Star to thank for ending the 14-year silence that engulfed their friendship: Longtime outfielder Vince Coleman.
Barkley and Jordan became very close friends while competing against each other during their NBA careers, but the pair hadn’t spoken since 2012 because of critical comments Barkley made during a radio interview on ESPN 1000 in Chicago in which he criticized Jordan, then the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, for hiring too many people who were too afraid to disagree with him.
After telling longtime radio personality Chris Russo on Mad Dog Sports Radio last week that he and Jordan had finally spoken again and broken the ice, Barkley detailed more of how the relationship began to thaw — in an interview with longtime Chicago radio hosts Marc Silverman and Tom Waddle, “Waddle and Silvy,” the same program he first made the comments about Jordan. Barkley noted Wednesday that it was Coleman who brought both men together on the telephone recently.
“It’s interesting,” Barkley said. “I was just chillin’ at the house last week, and one of my good friends is Vince Coleman, the great baseball player. When we answer the phone, we (jokingly) say some unkind words to each other … he says, ‘Yo, I’m down here at The Grove. I’m sick of you and MJ’s BS. He’s right here. Y’all need to talk.’ And we had a conversation, but Vince Coleman’s the person who’s responsible. We (Barkley and Jordan) talked for a couple minutes. He said, ‘Man, let’s get together and play golf. And as soon as I get a break, we’re gonna fly down there and spend a couple days playing golf.’” The Grove XXIII is Jordan’s private golf course in Jupiter, Florida.
Barkley’s trip to the course will make many around the sports world celebrate, given that the pair’s friendship has been icy for so long. What first irritated Jordan in 2012 was that Barkley, who has been one of the most honest critics in basketball for decades, offered his assessment of why Jordan was struggling so much as an owner.
“I think the biggest problem has been I don’t know if he has hired enough people around him who he will listen to,” Barkley told “Waddle and Silvy” on March 1, 2012. “One thing about being famous is the people around you, you pay all their bills, so they very rarely disagree with you because they want you to pick up the check. They want to fly around on your private jet, so they never disagree with you. I don’t think Michael has hired enough people around him who will disagree.”
Barkley, who has never been afraid to offer an opinion, did not stop there at the time.
“I love Michael, but he just has not done a good job,” Barkley said in the 2012 interview. “Even though he is one of my great friends, I can’t get on here and tell you he’s done a great job. He has not done a great job, plain and simple.”
The words got back to Jordan, and the friendship froze for years until Coleman stepped in. On Wednesday, Barkley sounded happy to be seeing Jordan soon.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Barkley said when asked if the relationship may still be chilly. “I tell people it’s not like we’re Prince Harry and Prince William, who hate each other. Honestly, I think we both missed each other, because we’ve had this conversation with other friends, and we’re both too stubborn to pick up the phone, to be honest with you. But I think both parties missed each other a great deal.
“Listen, man, I’m not one of those guys. I ain’t trying to prove no point, or I ain’t got no animosity, one thing we both said: I got a lot of love for you, and you got a lot of love for me. Like Vince said, ‘This thing has been silly and stupid, but both of y’all are too damn stubborn to pick up the phone, and y’all need to get y’all asses together and play golf and bury this thing.’”
The news of a reconciliation was received well by Silverman and Waddle, who always felt partly responsible for causing friction in the relationship by asking the question that created the rift between the two NBA Hall of Famers.
Aside from Coleman’s prodding, Barkley, who is 63 and has worked as an NBA commentator for decades, noted that part of the reason he feels the iciness is thawing is because of both men’s respective ages. Jordan, who is also 63, sold the Charlotte franchise in 2023 and has found success as a NASCAR owner.
“We’re closer to death than we are alive,” Barkley said. “I used to always use a golf analogy. I’m on the back nine. I hope I’m on like 9, 10 or 11, but you never know. You can be on 17 or 18 tomorrow, the way the world works.”
In describing how much he missed the relationship with Jordan, Barkley said that the legendary Chicago Bulls guard has “always been a great friend.”
“He actually gave me some of the best advice financially,” Barkley said. “I was making about $3 million a year from Nike in my heyday. And he said to me — first of all, I have no idea how he got a hold of my contract, how much money I was making — he says, ‘I want you to stop taking so much cash and take stock options.’
“And I have no idea what that means. Michael’s a great businessman. I said, ‘I have no idea what that means.’ So, I take it to my people, I said, ‘Hey, I was playing golf with Michael. He says he doesn’t want me to take $3 million. He wants me to take a million and take the rest in stock options.’ They’re like, ‘Well, how good of a basketball player do you think he’s gonna be? And how much shoes you think he’s gonna sell?’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve never seen anything like it.’ This is early in my career, too. I said, ‘I’ve never seen anybody this good at basketball.’”
Barkley’s financial advisors told him it was risky to take the stock options, but he did because of Jordan’s advice and believes he probably made “another $50 million because of that.”
“I’m looking forward to the future, to be honest with you,” Barkley said, while describing what it would mean to have Jordan back in his life.
Barkley never held it against Waddle, a former wide receiver for the Chicago Bears, or Silverman, a longtime Chicago radio personality, for asking him the original questions that upset Jordan. He has developed a friendship with both men and frequently appears on their radio show during the year to discuss a wide variety of topics.
The conversation with Jordan clearly pleased Barkley, and he relayed how he knew his old friend was still the same person he had always been.
“The one thing he said, I could tell he hasn’t changed, cause when he invited (me), he said, ‘Come down and play golf.’ He said, ‘You’re a rich guy. Come play with the richer guy.’ And I was like, ‘Some things never change. … That’s 100 percent Michael Jordan speaking to me like he used to.’”
Barkley was asked if there was any chance that while the pair reconnected in the coming weeks down in Florida, the men would reach out to Tiger Woods to patch up their relationship with the golf legend.
“I never understood, to be honest with you, the whole Tiger situation,” Barkley said. “Number one, I called his agent (Mark Steinberg). I don’t even have Tiger’s number. I said, ‘Man, let’s let the young guy know I love him. I hope he’s gonna be all right. I wish him nothing but the best.’ … I got nothing but love for him. He disowned us after one of those car accidents. I’ve not talked to him in probably whenever — I can’t even remember.”
Barkley shared his experience of having a brother who struggled with addiction in answering a question about Woods, who was recently arrested and charged with DUI after a rollover crash on Jupiter Island, Florida.
“My brother, who died at a young age, was an addict,” Barkley said. “And I have great sympathy for anybody in that situation. But like I say, Tiger left us. We didn’t do any(thing). I don’t turn on my friends when they do something considered wrong or make a mistake. I wish him nothing but the best.”