On the latest episode of the PBD Podcast, host Patrick Bet-David asked analyst Stephen A. Smith whether Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley would ever reconcile. Smith did not mince words and claimed that Jordan and Barkley do not despise each other but he doesn’t see them burying the hatchet and reinvigorating their friendship. While explaining his take, the ESPN analyst recalled the moments when Jordan as well as Kobe Bryant used to lambast him over calls.
Many believe that Jordan doesn’t likes to be criticized. However, SAS claimed that Jordan doesn’t appreciate being blindsided
“It’s a misnomer to think that you can’t criticize Michael Jordan… Just don’t betray him. Don’t be somebody that says something to his face and he’s shocked by what you’re saying when he sees you on television.
Smith added that he has received calls from both MJ and Kobe for saying something on television.
“I’ve gotten calls over the years from Michael Jordan [saying], ‘I know your a*s didn’t just say what the hell I just heard you say blah blah blah.’ Kobe used to give them to me all the time. I mean, Kobe was much worse than MJ.”
Smith revealed that he’s had many arguments with Jordan over the phone but won’t repeat them to maintain the sanctity of his relationship with the six-time Finals MVP. He alluded that Jordan and Scottie Pippen would also never reconcile because the five-time MVP felt betrayed about his teammate never offering him his condolences after his father’s untimely passing. Smith revealed that Jordan told him,
“I hope it was worth it for [Scottie]. I have nothing else to say.”
Jordan and Barkley fell out in 2012 after the latter criticized the then-Charlotte Bobcats owner for the team’s horrendous record. The former Phoenix Suns superstar had said that Jordan would never be successful as an executive because he’s surrounded by people who couldn’t go against his word, even if they thought he was wrong.
Barkley said on the Let’s Go podcast that Jordan will have to make the first move for the duo to reconcile. However, Smith’s revelation suggests the Bulls icon isn’t interested in mending fences with his former best friend.
When Kobe Bryant cursed out Stephen A. Smith
Stephen A. Smith admitted to Patrick Bet-David that Kobe Bryant was much worse than Michael Jordan when arguing his point. However, in an interview with Howard Stern last year, he detailed the intricacies of his arguments with the Los Angeles Lakers icon. He said,
“Kobe scared the living s**t out of me. Kobe was a savant. You did not know more basketball than Kobe Bryant. So when Kobe Bryant called you to complain, and I can quote him: Voicemail. ‘You know who this is mother*cker. Get your ass up, pick up the f*cking phone and call me back. That bullsh*t you just said. And don’t keep me waiting. Your ass better not go on the air and say some other sh*t before you talk to me.’”
Smith revealed that Bryant would give a profanity-laden rebuttal to the analyst’s criticism of his game. He also claimed that the five-time NBA champion would always end the conversation on a good note, but would not hold back before that. Bryant and Jordan were cut from the same cloth. Both took unfair criticism to heart and had no issues picking fights to argue their point. However, Smith’s revelations suggest that the Lakers superstar was more prone to having arguments than the Bulls icon.
