What happened between Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan? Sports analyst reveals phone call that ended friendship with NBA legend

Charles Barkley recently revealed an old conversation between him and his once-close friend Michael Jordan, which ended their friendship.

Barkley appeared in a December 4, 2025 episode of The Tom Tolbert Show, where he shared that their 2012 argument stemmed from his criticism of Jordan in his role as owner of the Charlotte Hornets, then known as the Charlotte Bobcats.

"He called me that night and went ballistic on me, telling me, 'Hey, you're supposed to be my best friend, and you're going to do that bulls***?' I said, 'Man, I got to do my job.' And I said, 'You haven't done a good job as a general manager, and that's my job to be honest.' I said, 'How can I criticize other people and give you a pass?' I said, 'When other guys make bad draft picks, I call them on it, too.'"

Charles Barkley says his friendship with Michael Jordan ended when he called him out for being a bad GM on TV 😳

“He called me that night and went ballistic on me. He said ‘you supposed to be my best friend and you’re going to do that bullsh*t?’ I told him I have to do my job… pic.twitter.com/TeDgwYAqTL

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 21, 2025

Charles added that Jordan "cursed me out up and down and we have not spoken since that night." He described the situation as a "difficult thing for me" since Jordan was his "best friend" back then.

Charles Barkley's remarks that upset Michael Jordan

In a February 2023 interview with All The Smoke, Charles Barkley shared that his comments that upset Michael Jordan were about how he was running the Charlotte Bobcats:

"I said I don't know if he's ever going to be successful because of the people around him. I think he hires too many of his friends. The hardest thing about being famous is that you're paying all the bills, they're on your private jet, and they're not going to tell you when you're doing something wrong."

He added that the last thing he heard from Jordan before they went 13 years without speaking was, "Motherf*****, f*** you, you're supposed to be my boy."

However, in a 2023 interview with Bleacher Report, Barkley admitted that he still misses His Airness.

"That’s on his end. He was my best friend at the time, and I love the guy and I miss the guy. I thought it would blow over, to be honest with you. And he’s stubborn — and I’m stubborn — and that’s it," he told the outlet.

He added:

"I probably would say, 'What I said, I believed. I'm sorry you took offense to it. And let's get past this bulls--t and get back to playing golf and having fun.'"

Michael Jordan became a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets in 2006 and purchased a majority stake in 2010, making him the league's only African-American majority owner. However, he sold the majority stake in 2023 and once again became a minority owner.