Charles Barkley can’t wait for the Bulls’ forthcoming Ring of Honor ceremony next month, which will awkwardly reunite Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
The pair won six championships together in Chicago and established the 90’s Bulls as arguably the greatest NBA dynasty of all-time.
But things have gone sour between Jordan and Pippen in recent years, with the latter saying the five-time MVP was ‘horrible to play with’ on the ‘Gimme the Hot Sauce’ podcast. Jordan’s son, Marcus, 32, is now also dating Pippen’s ex-wife, Larsa, 49.
Now, the former teammates – along with the rest of the 1995-96 championship roster – are set to be reunited on January 12 at halftime of the Bulls’ matchup with the Warriors.
And Barkley can’t wait to see what happens.
‘You know what? I gotta go!,’ he said on the Dan Patrick Show. ‘I’m just gonna sit back in the corner and stare… please, please don’t have it [on] a night I have to work, because I want to go there and be a fly on the wall.’
Larsa and Scottie filed for divorce from one another in 2016 after 19 years of marriage, while she and Marcus began dating last year.Other members of the championship roster include legendary coach Phil Jackson and Hall of Fame forward – and noted loose cannon – Dennis Rodman.
‘I’m telling you something. I’m gonna to have to go to Chicago that day just to see it,’ Barkley continued. ‘I mean, you talk about weirdest, uncomfortable… uncomfortable won’t do it justice… nobody’s going to watch the Warriors, or the Bulls, let’s get that out the way. But everybody’s going to have their cameras focused on [the Ring of Honor inductees].
Following the release of the hit docuseries ‘The Last Dance,’ which chronicled the Bulls’ dynasty, Pippen hit out at Jordan in his memoir ‘Unguarded.’
‘I was nothing ore than a prop,’ he said, as published in an excerpt of the book published in GQ. ‘His ‘best teammate of all time,’ he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.
Pippen and Jordan are seen in happier times back in 2012, at the former’s birthday party
He also said that the show ‘glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates,’ and claimed that Jordan was granted ‘editorial control of the final product.’
If Barkley really does show up to the event, things might be frosty between him and Jordan too.
The previously close friends fell out after Barkley, a TNT NBA analyst, criticized Jordan’s ownership of the Hornets in 2012 (he sold the team in August).
The pair have not spoken since, Barkley said on podcast ‘All the Smoke’ this year.
He added on 60 Minutes, ‘You can be great at something, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a jerk.’