Despite being one of the most decorated athletes in the world, Michael Jordan is also infamous for certain rivalries and feuds with his peers, stemming from his highly competitive nature. MJ’s feud with Charles Barkley is one such rift that has become a part of NBA folklore. The then best friends turned into rivals after Barkley criticized Jordan’s management skills as the owner of the Charlotte Hornets and His Airness took major offense, severing all relations with Sir Charles. After Barkley asked for an apology from Jordan a few days ago to resolve matters, the six-time NBA champion’s biggest rival resurfaced an age-old beef to demand a sincere apology as well.

Of all the feuds that Michael Jordan has gotten into, his feud with Isiah Thomas remains the most notorious. What started in the 1980s is still live and running to this day. Now, the Detroit Pistons legend has added another episode to this infamous saga.

Bitter Rivals cross Michael Jordan’s path with strict demands

Given the friendship Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley once had, the hoops community badly wants to see the legends break bread. Barkley, however, has made it clear that he will not be the first one to apologize. “I’m gonna do my job because I have zero credibility if I criticize other people in the same boat and not criticize my best friend… I got an ego too, John. You can be great at something, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a jerk… He got my number,” Charles Barkley had recently said in a interview.

Few days after Barkley said this, MJ’s harshest rival Isiah Thomas too has demanded an apology from him. The intense rivalry between the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls during the 1980s gave way to the infamous Jordan-Isiah beef. Aggravating the tensions, His Airness called the Pistons legend an a**hole in an episode of the docuseries The Last Dance that aired in 2020. MJ also revealed that he hated Isiah.

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However, Isiah Thomas is willing to accept a truce, only under the condition that Jordan apologizes to him.

“Anywhere, anytime, publicly. Don’t call me behind the scenes apologizing or asking your friends to apologize. You got on national television and you called me an a**hole and then you said you hated me. Now if you don’t mean it, get on national television and apologize for it. Now if you mean it, let it ride as it is,” Isiah Thomas said, during an appearance on Showtime Basketball recently.

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Turbulent times for Michael Jordan

For the hoops community, Michael Jordan is usually a muse to whom they sing songs of praises. However, things have not been so for the past few days. MJ started to face the music when he announced his plans to sell his majority stake at the Charlotte Hornets.

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As the owner of the Hornets, Jordan has been on the receiving end for quite some time. After repeated failures of the franchise, NBA fans had once demanded His Airness to sell the team. Moreover, it is Barkley’s critique of Jordan’s executive skills as the Hornets owner that turned the once warm friendship into a bitter rivalry.