Charles Barkley explains why Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are the greatest athletes he's ever seen

• Charles Barkley says Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are the two greatest athletes he's ever seen in his life.
• Speaking with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt, Barkley explained why Jordan and Woods were on a different level than a number of other greats, from Roger Federer to Tom Brady.
• "When you're around Michael and Tiger, there's a different animal," Barkley said. "You realize like, I'm around something that's crazy and special."
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ESPN's documentary series "The Last Dance," has reignited the debate around Michael Jordan and the greatest athletes of all time.

According to former Jordan rival and current NBA commentator Charles Barkley, it's not a conversation up for debate — Jordan and Tiger Woods are the two GOATs.

Speaking with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt after Sunday's airings of "The Last Dance," Barkley explained why he believed Jordan and Woods surpassed the greatness of both their contemporaries as well as current stars of the sports world.

"I've been in this game since 1984, the game of fame and NBA," Barkley said. "Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are the two greatest athletes I've ever seen in my life. I've been around a lot of movie stars, I've been around a lot of great athletes. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are the only two guys I've ever been around where people actually lose their minds when they see them or are in the room with them."

Barkley said that being in the presence of both Jordan and Woods gave him a feeling that didn't exist elsewhere in sports.

"It was an honor and a privilege to play against Michael. It was an honor and a privilege to watch Tiger in his prime," Barkley said. "Those are the only two guys — as much as I love Magic and Bird, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and in football, you got Tom Brady who's the greatest football player ever — when you're around Michael and Tiger, there's a different animal. You realize like, I'm around something that's crazy and special."

Barkley also said that the intensity that drove Jordan to hold onto every grudge was what took his dominance to another level.

"That's what made him the GOAT. He takes everything personally," Barkley said. "It was an honor and a privilege to compete against him. No disrespect to Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain; the best I've ever seen in my life is Michael Jordan, and it was an honor and a privilege to play against him. He's the best I've ever seen. Him and Tiger Woods — those two guys are the best I've ever seen at what they do."

Barkley knows Jordan's intensity well. As Barkley said after a previous episode of "The Last Dance," he and Jordan were friends and Dream Team teammates, but their relationship has been strained since Barkley made some comments critical of Jordan's tenure as owner of the Charlotte Hornets.

"I would love to be friends with Michael," Barkley said. "He was great to me for 20-some years. I love him like a brother. He's like a brother to me. But our last conversation he was not very happy with some things that I had said about him on television."

While the two athletes might not be a close as they once were, it's clear that Barkley still has nothing but respect for Jordan's talent.

• Read more:

Charles Barkley said facing off against Michael Jordan in the 1993 NBA Finals was 'the first time in my life that I felt there was a better basketball player in the world than me'

Kobe Bryant credited Michael Jordan's advice for helping him win five championships with the Lakers in emotional appearance in 'The Last Dance'

Video of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan shows how much the Lakers legend imitated the GOAT

Gatorade recreated its iconic 'Be Like Mike' Michael Jordan commercial with Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum, and Elena Delle Donne

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