Charles Barkley reveals plans to play golf with Michael Jordan, seemingly end longtime feud

Barkley has not spoken to Jordan much, if at all, since comments in 2012 about the Chicago Bulls legend’s management about the Charlotte Bobcats – now the Hornets. At the time, Jordan was a majority owner of the franchise, and Barkley previously said he went “ballistic” during a phone call after the comments on Inside The NBA.

But even despite the feud, Barkley maintained there was a mutual respect between the two. After their most recent conversation this week, they’ll get ready to play a round of golf – a big step toward potentially settling their differences.

“We’re not like Prince William and Prince Harry,” Barkley said. “We’ve always had a lot of love for each other. But we talked – actually in the last, probably, 72 hours. We decided to get together and play golf as soon as basketball is over.”

During an interview on 60 Minutes in 2023, Barkley recalled his comments about Jordan and the conversation that followed. He said Jordan took issue with the criticism of his management of the Bobcats given his friendship with Barkley. They had not spoken much since, but Barkley defended his remarks because of his job as an analyst on TNT.

“What I said, I think he don’t have enough people around him that gonna tell him ‘No,’” Barkley said at the time, via Awful Announcing. “And he got really offended and we haven’t spoken. But John, I’m gonna do my job. Because I have zero credibility if I criticize other people in the same boat and not criticize my best friend.”

Now, it appears Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are on their way to mending their relationship. As for when their round of golf will take place, it sounds like it’ll be after the NBA Finals, which are scheduled to end no later than June 19.