The NBA world has seen its fair share of beefs and altercations throughout the years. The players have butted heads on the court and outside of it as well. Notably, one rivalry has remained stagnant throughout the last decade, years after both players had retired from the sport- that is the longstanding beef between former best friends Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. The Philadelphia 76ers legend once mentioned MJ’s shortcomings as a team owner of the Charlotte Hornets on air as a candid evaluation. Safe to say, the assessment wasn’t really appreciated by the Bulls legend and since then they haven’t seen eye to eye. Recently, when Barkley’s legendary colleague was asked about the beef, he hilariously blamed Chuck for the unnecessary rivalry.

The Houston Rockets legend, Kenny Smith had a short interview with TMZ recently, where he was asked about the beef between Chuck and Michael Jordan. As usual, Smith was hilarious while giving some input on how they should bury the hatchet once and for all.

Kenny Smith gives his hilarious take on the Charles Barkley-Michael Jordan beef

In an interview from 2022, Charles Barkley revealed that him and Michael Jordan haven’t spoken to each other for over a decade. According to Barkley, in 2012, Barkley’s criticism of Jordan’s job as the owner of the Charlotte Hornets wasn’t taken well. In an interview with TMZ Sports, Chuck’s colleague and friend, Kenny Smith was asked about the decade-long beef between the two and how it is supposed to end. The Houston Rockets legend came up with a hilarious reply suggesting the ways that the duo can squash the beef.

“Competitive Juices is what holds it back. Apologize, Chuck. You were in the wrong,” joked the Rockets legend hilariously. He further added “Chuck’s always in the wrong!! I don’t want to speak to Chuck today, either.”

Smith also mentioned that he was the last person who got the two NBA MVPs together for a picture. In 2016, the three of them posed for a picture together, which started rumors about the beef getting squashed. However, years later, it seems like there are still some embers left from earlier fires.

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The reason behind Chuck and MJ’s beef

According to Charles Barkley, the beef started when he criticized Jordan on live television, mentioning how MJ needs to “surround himself with better people” to find success as an owner of the Charlotte side. Since then, Barkley has always maintained that he needed to “do his job“, instead of being soft on his friends.

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Jordan has never spoken on the matter, but apparently had an “unpleasant” conversation with Barkley, after Chuck criticized him on television. There are numerous opinions on the matter, but one can agree that Jordan needs to change his ways for the Charlotte Hornets to blow past opponents in the postseason. Additionally, fans would want the beef to come to an end after so many years, especially since Barkley has expressed regret after losing an old friend.