NBA legend Michael Jordan has shared the stage with some of the most iconic names in the game during his time in the league. One of his biggest rivals and also friends was Charles Barkley. The two were consistently two of the best players in the league and shared a great relationship outside the court. However, this didn’t stop them from going all out against each other. The two faced each other in the 1993 NBA finals and Jordan had the solution to stop Barkley.

Playing for the Phoenix Suns, Barkley was coming back off a great season. Jordan knew the threats he posed and had to do something. He instructed Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen to handle Barkley and it worked out perfectly. During an appearance on All The Smoke Podcast, Barkley recalled his experience during the finals.

Charles Barkley reveals a bad memory with Michael Jordan

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was one of the biggest threats to the Chicago Bulls as they chased their first three-peat in 1993. However, Jordan had it all sorted out.

Talking on the podcast, he recalled noticing Jordan having a talk with Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen. He had instructed his players to ‘throw down’ Barkley and it seems his tactics worked.

Barkley said, “Michael know I’m f***ing aggressive. I can see he’s talking to Horace and Scottie like, ya’ll gotta throw that motherf***er down because Horace to me was one of the more underrated players. Him and Scotty man, when they doubled me, I couldn’t see sh*t. They were so long and athletic, I couldn’t see sh*t.”

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This clever tactic definitely slowed Chuck down as he couldn’t lead his team to the NBA finals. Interestingly, while Barkley and Jordan have a bad relationship now, the two were close friends back then. Although Jordan has refrained from commenting on his relationship with Chuck, Barkley has regretted losing a good friend.

A dominant performance from MJ gave him his third NBA title

The Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan got past the Suns 4-2 in the 1993 NBA finals. Jordan won his third finals MVP award averaging 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. 

On the other hand, Barkley averaged 27.3 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in the 6-game series. This was the first and last time Chuck made it to the NBA finals and retired having won almost every accolade barring an NBA title.

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