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Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: NBA, Basketball, Michael Jordan
Ryan Baldi
Charles Barkley was one of the best players in the NBA during the peak of his career, but the former MVP credits Michael Jordan with helping him multiply his earnings.
Barkley and Jordan were contemporaries in the 1980s and 1990s. Both men were part of the 1984 NBA draft, with Jordan selected by the Chicago Bulls with the third pick and Barkley chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers two picks later.
Jordan went on to accumulate six championships in Chicago and won the Most Valuable Player award five times, etching a legacy as arguably the greatest player of all time.
Barkley – a legendary rebounder despite being undersized at the power forward position – never won a title but he did pip Jordan to the MVP award in 1993, although the Bulls superstar exacted revenge that same season as he vanquished Barkley's Phoenix Suns in the NBA finals.
The pair were also teammates once, pairing up as part of the iconic 'Dream Team' that obliterated teh competition en route to a gold medal for teh USA at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
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Despite their rivalry on the court, Jordan and Barkley got on well outside of basketball. And Barkley revealed recently how some financial advice from Jordan helped him earn a mega payday with a Nike endorsement deal.
“We both go to Nike,” Barkley said of himself and Jordan. “They signed Michael. And they signed me. And Michael gave me some great advice one time. He says, ‘Hey man, why you need all that money?’
I said, ‘Dude what you talking about?’ He says, ‘I was looking at your contract. You’re making about $3 million. Tell Nike you want a million and you want the rest in stock options.’
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And I said, ‘OK.’ I run it by my guys. He says, ‘That’s a good idea if they’re gonna be great.’ I said, ‘This dude is the greatest basketball player I’ve ever seen. Let’s do it.’
“I actually made probably 10 times the amount of money, and I’m still with Nike to this day.”