Charles Barkley on why friendship with Michael Jordan ended

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, their friendship disintegrated.

This past week, Barkley offered an in-depth lens into why precisely his relationship with Jordan ultimately fell apart.

In intimate chat with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and famed sports broadcaster Jim Gray, Barkley broke down where things went wrong.

“I think probably, me and Michael were best friends, that’s probably the most prominent thing,” Barkley said.

“Michael Jordan, losing his friendship was probably the most prominent thing that’s happened to me. But I was being honest about what I thought. I said, ‘Listen, the toughest thing about Michael, he’s got to put better people around him.’

“Because the toughest thing, when you’re famous, they’re on your private jet, you’re buying all the drinks, you’re buying all the dinners. Very few people are gonna be honest with you.”

Charles Barkley is generally pretty transparent. Whether he is flirting with women at the bar, being brutally honest with Klay Thompson or putting Anthony Davis in his place – he tends to keep it pretty real.

If he saying this about Jordan, you know he means it.

Will Barkley and Jordan ever find a way to put their past issues aside and become friends again? Especially now that Jordan has, in recent years, shown a capacity to reflect and exhibit signs of regret over certain things?

Time will tell.