Charles Barkley calls out Michael Jordan for only picking on teammates he knew wouldn't fight back
- Charles Barkley called out Michael Jordan for having "selective prosecution" when it came to bullying his teammates on the Chicago Bulls.
- Speaking with ESPN's "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz," Barkley called out Jordan for picking on teammates like Scott Burrell and Steve Kerr, who were lower on the team's hierarchy.
- "There's certain guys that would whoop the hell out of you if you tried doing that," Barkley said. "He has selective prosecution. I mean, Scott Burrell and Steve Kerr. Come on, man."
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ESPN's docuseries "The Last Dance" has given its viewers an inside look at Michael Jordan and his dynastic run through the NBA with the Chicago Bulls.
The series has shown Jordan at both his highest and lowest — from inside the locker room celebrating a championship, to the intense practices it took to get them there.
Episodes seven and eight of "The Last Dance" delved into Jordan's treatment of his teammates, keying in on his name-calling of Scott Burrell and a fight he had with Steve Kerr. At the end of episode seven, Jordan explained himself.
"When people see this, they're going to say 'Well, he wasn't really a nice guy, he may have been a tyrant,'" Jordan said. "Well, that's you, because you never won anything. I wanted to win, but I wanted them to win and be a part of that as well."
"I don't have to do this. I'm only doing it because it is who I am," Jordan said, getting choked up. "That's how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don't want to play that way, don't play that way."
But his explanation didn't come without criticism. Speaking with ESPN's "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz," NBA Hall of Famer turned commentator Charles Barkley called out Jordan for only picking on the teammates he knew wouldn't fight back.
Le Batard asked Barkley if he would have been able to handle being NBA teammates with Jordan, with Barkley joking that he didn't think he'd get treated as poorly as some of the teammates that were lower on the Bulls' hierarchy.
"Well, you know that he has selective prosecution over there, right? He knows who to pick on," Barkley said. "There's certain guys you can't treat like that. You have to know what guys you can treat badly, and they're gonna accept it. Screaming at guys all the time, punching guys — come on, man."
"There's certain guys that would whoop the hell out of you if you tried doing that. He has selective prosecution. I mean, Scott Burrell and Steve Kerr. I mean, come on, man."
Barkley was a teammate of Jordan's on the Dream Team, and a rival of Jordan throughout their playing careers, but their relationship took a turn in their post-playing days when Barkley called out Jordan for his tenure as an NBA owner.
Barkley had previously said that he believed their relationship was beyond repair and reiterated the point to Le Batard.
"That's never gonna happen, Dan. You can let that go," Barkley said. "That's never gonna happen. We're good. Michael's doing great. Chuck's doing great. But that's never gonna happen, brother. I'm too stubborn for that."
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