Charles Barkley Shares Hilarious Story of the First Time He Wore Air Jordans During a Game

He wore them just one time.

Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley during the 1993 NBA Finals in Chicago. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Charles Barkley was apparently not a fan of wearing Air Jordans during his NBA days.

The NBA star turned analyst shared a story on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday about the one time he wore Air Jordans during a game, which is something he did to honor Michael Jordan in his last NBA game before his first retirement. Barkley quickly regretted his decision as he figured out the iconic Nike shoes were extremely heavy on his feet.

"I put his shoes on one game. He definitely was the greatest damn basketball player ever, Dan. Those were the heaviest damn things I ever played in in my life. I'm not even joking," Barkley said. "I played in those heavy a-- Air Jordans one game, it was like I had bricks on my damn feet.

"I called him after the game, I said, 'Yo man, what the hell you be putting in these damn shoes?' ... I said, 'You really are the damn G.O.A.T. if you're playing in these big a-- bricks!'"

Charles Barkley on the time he wore Jordans to honor MJ:

"I put his shoes on one game... He definitely was the greatest damn basketball player ever. Those were the heaviest dang things I ever played in in my life!" pic.twitter.com/m1TenHAxg0

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 2, 2025

Barkley noted that he made sure when designing his shoes with Nike that the shoes were more lightweight than the Air Jordans.

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