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Charles Barkley’s Insane Story About An Angry Michael Jordan Not Even Letting The Opposing Point Guard Dribble
When Charley Barkley was guest on ESPN’s ‘Coffee With Cal’, hosted by Kentucky head coach John Calipari, he was asked to share some of his favorite Michael Jordan stories.
Barkley went ahead and told an unreal story of the first time he played with Jordan on the Dream Team. Before a game against Puerto Rico, Jordan played 36 holes of golf, before demanding to guard the opposing point guard, because he trash-talked him in some newspaper, not even letting him dribble.
“So we’re playing in Portland, Oregon, in the tournament of the Americas. So me, Chuck Daily, David Robinson and Michael [Jordan] go out and play [golf] at the morning of the game. We’re not playing till like eight o’clock at night. We play 18 and Chuck says ‘ok, that was a great time’. Michael says ‘I’ma play another 18!’ We’re like ‘Michael, we got a game tonight.’ He’s like ‘Chuck, I’ll be fine, bla bla bla’.
So Michael comes back after playing another 18, we’re getting ready for the game. Chuck [Daily] says ‘hey Charles, you got this guy, Patrick or David, whoever started that night, Scottie you got this guy…’ and then Michael says ‘No, I got him!’ It was the point guard from Puerto Rico, and Chuck says ‘well he’s the point guard, Michael’. Michael looks at him and says ‘I said I got him! I read something he said about me in the newspaper, and I got him.’ And the whole room’s like ‘dude you just played 36 holes of golf’ and coach says ‘and you gon guard the point guard?!’
Michael would not let this little dude dribble. He’s talking to him. You know that stupid drill when you try to turn guys and you’re like ‘yo, you can’t go, turn the other way?!’ Michael had played 36 holes of golf and he’s talking to this guy the whole time. ‘Hey don’t you ever talk about me publicly again! I’m Michael Jordan! Don’t you ever talk about me!’”
30 years ago today, USA Basketball announced the “Dream Team” for the 1992 Olympics. Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockton were named. Christian Laettner and Clyde Drexler were named to the team on May 12, 1992.
