Charles Barkley: 'There's nobody cheaper than Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan'
Michael Jordan's alleged tightfistedness is back in Charles Barkley's comedic crosshairs.
In an interview with late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien, Barkley says that golfer Tiger Woods, Jordan, and Jordan's former Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen are among the cheapest people that he knows.
"There's nobody cheaper than Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan," Barkley said. "Oh yeah, [Jordan is] cheap. I always give homeless people money and he will always slap my hand [and tell me], 'If they can ask you for spare change, they can say, 'Welcome to McDonald's, can I help you, please?'"
The subject came up when Barkley was asked about his own tipping habits.
"I think it's important when you're successful, the waiter, the waitresses, the blackjack dealers, they work extremely hard, they don't get a great salary," Barkley told O'Brien. "The more successful you are, the more you should tip, I truly believe that. ... I never went overboard. I tipped $25,000 before. I won about $700,000 at a blackjack. You have to tip. I probably should have tipped more to be honest with you."
Jordan earned $90 million in NBA salary, and Forbes estimated his net worth at $650 million last year thanks to multiple, long-term endorsement deals and his Jordan Brand apparel company. After retiring for the final time in 2003, Jordan became majority owner of the Bobcats in 2010.
"I think that's why [Woods and Jordan are] rich," Barkley quipped. "They don't tip. That's their secret to being rich, they don't tip."
This isn't the first time that the outspoken TNT commentator has publicly called out Jordan for his thriftiness. Back in 2012, Barkley said that Jordan is "as cheap as they come" during an ESPN Radio interview in Chicago. He also directly criticized Jordan's tenure as Bobcats owner during that interview.
In December 2013, Barkley told CNN's Rachel Nichols that those negative comments had affected his longtime friendship with Jordan.
"Michael is somebody I really like as a person," he said. "For some reason we just hit it off. It's frustrating for me right now because we're not where we used to be. I think he took some things I said about the Bobcats personally and it's put a wedge between our friendship, and that's been disheartening for me. Very disheartening. Because one minute we're close and now it’s strained."
Pippen hasn't taken well to criticism about his money matters, either. Last year, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Pippen against a number of media outlets that he claimed had erroneously reported that he filed for bankruptcy.
Back in March, Barkley joked that NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal was endorsing a soda so sugary that it is "spreading diabetes all across the world."
