When Charles Barkley poked fun at Michael Jordan in an appearance on 'Oprah'

Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. (Photo: People Magazine)

Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley used to be good friends. Jordan and Barkley, in fact, made fun of each other during an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" back in 2005.

A video of the two on the famous talk show 17 years ago resurfaced, in which Barkley explained why people thought Jordan was good-looking.

Barkley said:

"Everybody is kissing his b**t the whole time. People always talk about, 'he's handsome,' but he's not handsome. I think anytime you get 3, 4, 500 million dollars, you become handsome."

Michael Jordan retaliated by poking fun at Charles Barkley's golf swing. Jordan explained why he did not play golf with Chuck, saying that Barkley's swing was good before he got the yips and developed a stop-and-go swing.

"Nobody plays with him because we know how much. ... You used to be so good and now, if he hits it anywhere off the tee or near the water, we say, 'good shot.' And that's bad."

The two NBA legends were teammates with the "Dream Team" and faced each other in the 1993 NBA Finals. Jordan and the Chicago Bulls beat Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in six games.

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What happened to the friendship between Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley?

Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan.

In an article by Greg Joyce of the New York Post (h/t Fox Sports) in 2020, Barkley explained that Jordan stopped talking to him in 2012 following his comments about Jordan's front office decisions.

Barkley said:

"The thing that bothered me the most about that whole thing. I don't think that I said anything that bad. I'm pretty sure I said, 'As much as I love Michael, until he stops hiring his best friends, he's never going to be successful as a general manager.'

"And I remember pretty much verbatim, I said that. And the thing that really p**sed me off about it later is Phil Jackson said the exact same thing."

Barkley spoke about MJ in an interview with Shaun Powell for NBA.com back in March.

Barkley revealed that he does not expect Jordan to repair their friendship because of his stubbornness. However, he said he misses spending time with "His Airness" and still considers him a brother.

"We're both stubborn. Look, I love the dude like a brother and wish him nothing but the best. I got no animosity toward him. I miss his friendship."