Hooped Up

Sit back and watch one of the best sports interviews a fan could ever want. Back in 2005 after a retirement, a comeback and yet another retirement in 2003. Michael Jordan was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Charles Barkley crashed the party as a female model.

Being the best host on the planet, Oprah gets MJ to let down his amour to reveal a glimpse of the man behind the legend like never before. Then to lighten things up, surprise guest Chuck enters the stage and was on comedic fire the entire time. The whole interview is laced with quotables, but one in particular that stands out is what MJ had to say about the young guys coming into the league.

“When you look back in our era—Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley—we earned what we got,” he says. “I don’t mean to demean the young kids because I think it’s something that they have to learn and hopefully they will learn, [but] when corporate America came to us, we had a game that could validate their admiration. Now, [players] get that before they play one game. … I think it sets a bad work ethic. When you get something so easily, you’re not going to work as hard.”

Sounds like Jordan was still bitter about the seven-year Nike deal worth over $90 million that LeBron James signed in 2003 straight out of high school, as the first pick of the 2003 draft. After all these years he probably got over it thought right? Yeah, I don’t think so either.