Sixers Legend Charles Barkley Takes Shot at Michael Jordan

Sixers legend laughs off notion of Michael Jordan begin able to guard him.

Bulls guard Michael Jordan and Suns forward Charles Barkley face off in the 1993 NBA Finals. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

At his peak, Philadelphia 76ers legend Charles Barkley was one of the most dominant offensive forces of his era. Long removed from his playing days, the Hall of Fame forward recently jabbed at one of his biggest rivals.

Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a long and successful career as a TV analyst. While he primarily talks about today's generation of players, he occasionally looks back at the league when he was one of the premier stars in the NBA.

Earlier this week, Barkley appeared on the Dan Patrick Show to cover a wide range of topics. Among the things brought up was Steve Kerr's recent comments about Draymond Green being the best defender he's ever seen. Barkley quickly refuted this statement, bringing up multiple players from his era. Among those brought up was Michael Jordan.

While Jordan is mainly praised for his offensive talents, he prided himself on the defensive end as well. The NBA icon is one of the few non-big men to take home Defensive Player of the Year, taking home the award in 1988.

As Barkley's interview went on, Patrick asked him how things would go if MJ were to be matched up on him during their playing days. The Sixers legend quickly shot this down, stating that Jordan is too small to defend him.

"He too little," Barkley said. "He's too little. Michael, he can't guard me in the post, he's too little. I've said it to him a thousand times."

"What if Jordan guarded you?"

"He's too little... Little man, you're in the wrong place at the wrong time." 🤣

– Charles Barkley on who couldn't guard him pic.twitter.com/heNKi5iStM

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) April 30, 2025

Barkley and Jordan's NBA careers were intertwined from the beginning, both being part of the iconic 1984 draft. They were primarily rivals, notably squaring off in the finals in 1993. However, there were some rare occasions when the two got to play alongside one another. Most notably with Team USA in 1992 as part of the Dream Team.