Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are on speaking terms again, and Barkley revealed there's a former Major League Baseball All-Star behind the thawing of the relationship.
Barkley initially said during an interview last week on SiriusXM's "Mad Dog Unleashed" that he and Jordan had a conversation recently and made plans to play golf together soon. It had been 14 years since the two had a falling out after Barkley criticized Jordan's performance as owner of the then-Charlotte Bobcats during an interview with ESPN 1000 in Chicago.
A turning point came last week when former MLB outfielder Vince Coleman called Barkley at his home, Barkley said on Wednesday, April 23 during his latest appearance on ESPN 1000's "Waddle and Silvy Show," which is also where he made the original comments that upset Jordan in 2012. Coleman informed Barkley over the phone that he was with Jordan at The Grove XXIII, Jordan's golf club in South Florida.
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"(Coleman) 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," Barkley recounted to the show's hosts. "But Vince Coleman's the person who's responsible. We talked for a couple minutes. He's like, 'Man, let's get together and play golf,' and as soon as I get a break, I'm going to fly down there and we're going to spend a couple days playing golf."
Jordan and Barkley were rivals and superstars in the NBA and Olympic teammates with the original Dream Team in 1992. Jordan's Chicago Bulls beat Barkley's Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals, the same year Barkley won his lone MVP award. Coleman played 13 MLB seasons (1985-97), with the majority of his career spent with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets.
Jordan became the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 and Barkley has been an outspoken mainstay on "Inside the NBA," providing commentary on the league since his retirement.
Barkley criticized Jordan in 2012 for not surrounding himself with enough people willing to disagree with his decisions as the owner of Charlotte's NBA franchise, noting that "I love Michael, but he just has not done a good job."
Jordan sold his majority stake in the now-Charlotte Hornets in 2023 and currently owns the 23XI Racing NASCAR Cup Series team along with longtime NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin.
Barkley said Wednesday the feud between he and Jordan isn't as bad as it may have seemed, simply because they hadn't spoken in so long.
Jordan and Barkley golfing together again!FULL CONVO HERE: https://t.co/Wdba75y28U@WaddleandSilvy x @_CharlesBarkley #chicago #bulls #Sports #JordanandBarkley #sports #basketball #sportsfans #sportsmemories #golfing #sportslegends #golf #jordan #jordans pic.twitter.com/KFrqAWmMYP
"I tell people, it's not like we're like Prince Harry and Prince William who hate each other," Barkley said. "Honestly, I think we both missed each other because we've had this conversation with other friends and we were both too stubborn to pick up the phone."
"One thing we both said," Barkley added, "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 ... together and play golf and bury this thing."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vince Coleman ended Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan's long silence