Kenny Smith weighed in on his NBA analyst co-host Charles Barkley’s issues with Michael Jordan that fractured their relationship.
“You know what, the last time they were actually together, I put them together,” Smith recently said to TMZ. “It was indirect. We were in a hotel; Michael came to say hello; I was like, ‘Hey, it’s Charles.’ That was in Chicago. I think it was Chicago; yeah, it might have been Chicago. So we were in a hotel and he came down and I got the last picture.”
“Competitive juices is what holds it back. Apologize, Chuck. You were in the wrong anyway; Chuck’s always in the wrong.” Smith said. “I don’t want to speak to Chuck today either.”
Should Charles Barkley Apologize To MJ?
Back in 2016, Smith said something similar to TMZ.
“Well, all he has to do it make a phone call if he misses him. I didn’t even know I was a negotiator [of a peace treaty]. Obviously, Mike and I played in school, in college together. I think the one thing that both Charles and Michael have is a lot of pride. Once the pride settles down, but I do think that Charles was wrong. Mike’s doing a great job. Apologize, [Charles] should apologize, he’s [Michael Jordan] doing a great job.”
The NBA analyst told Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks in November that he wanted his friendship back with Michael Jordan, whom he hadn’t talked to in 10 years. Barkley discussed what he felt broke up his friendship with his former best friend and what he would like to happen in the future.
“It’s a really unfortunate situation for me and him. But I’m going to do my job, first and foremost. Because I can’t criticize other coaches and general managers and give him a pass because he’s my best friend,” Barkley said in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks. “I just can’t do that. What I said was, ‘Michael’s got to surround himself with better people. And I worry about him being successful.'”
During an interview last November on Tom Brady’s SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” with Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray, he revealed that he and Jordan haven’t spoken in almost ten years. The revelation came when Tom Brady asked if there were any consequences for giving his opinion as a basketball analyst and overall television personality throughout the years.
“ I think probably, me and Michael [Jordan] were best friends, that’s probably the most prominent thing,” he said to Brady. “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 going to be honest with you.
“I try to surround myself with people like, ‘Hey, if I’m screwing up, please tell me,'” Barkley continued. “And Michael got offended about something I said about him. And we haven’t spoken in probably almost 10 years. And he was my best friend at the time. And I love the dude like a brother and we’re both stubborn and we haven’t talked.”
Losing The Ego
Barkley has said that he would attempt to make amends, but the intention behind his past words might be the sticking point to a resumption of their friendship.
“I probably would say, ‘Hey, you know, what I said, I believed,” Barkley said to Rooks. “I’m sorry you took offense to it, and let’s get past this bulls**t and go back to playing golf and having fun.'”
If Barkley hears what Kenny Smith is saying, it’s drop the chip on your shoulder and say sorry, Chuck.
