Charles Barkley says a former MLB All-Star helped reopen the door to one of sports’ most famous broken friendships.
According to Nick Friedell’s report in The Athletic, longtime outfielder Vince Coleman recently got Barkley and Michael Jordan on the phone together after 14 years of silence between the two Hall of Famers.
Barkley said the call came while he was “just chillin’ at the house” and Coleman, who was with Jordan at The Grove XXIII in Jupiter, Florida, pushed the two to talk. “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,’” Barkley said.
Barkley said the conversation lasted only a few minutes, but it was enough to begin thawing the relationship. “We talked for a couple minutes,” he said, before adding that Jordan invited him to come play golf in Florida.
The rift dates back to Barkley’s 2012 comments about Jordan’s leadership as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. “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 said at the time.
He was even more direct in the same interview. “I love Michael, but he just has not done a good job,” Barkley said. “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.”
That criticism reached Jordan and the friendship froze. Now, Barkley says the old tension has softened with time, and with Coleman’s help, both men are ready to move forward.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Barkley said. “I think both parties missed each other a great deal.”
He also described the situation as stubbornness, not hatred. “We’re both too stubborn to pick up the phone,” Barkley said, adding that neither side had any real animosity.
Barkley, who is 63 like Jordan, said age has also changed the perspective. “We’re closer to death than we are alive,” he said, joking that life has a way of putting old disputes into sharper focus.
For Barkley, the reunion appears to be less about revisiting the past and more about finally moving beyond it. “I’m looking forward to the future, to be honest with you,” he said.
