Charles Barkley criticized NBC for failing to utilize Michael Jordan during his return as a special contributor. The NBA legend appeared only twice throughout the season despite a high-profile announcement. Barkley told SI Media the network wasted a massive opportunity to showcase Jordan’s brilliance.

While Jordan did talk about the modern era of basketball, it was a big disappointment for NBA fans to watch him just two times after his NBC deal. Barkley's remarks revealed that he didn't think any differently. The former Suns star slammed the network for how Jordan’s comeback to the NBA media was handled.

“Those are my guys at NBC, Mark Lazarus and Greg Hughes, but that was a terrible look,” Barkley told Jimmy Traina on SI Media.

NBC made a big deal out of Jordan joining NBC and made his return announcement in a legendary way. Jordan had used those two words when he came out of his first retirement. The network flashed the “I’m Back” banner at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.

But the hype didn’t meet the product. Barkley was upset that the network didn’t use the opportunity to showcase the basketball brilliance of Michael Jordan.

“First of all, we need Michael Jordan back in the NBA. I think that they should do that. Like, okay, he can sit down with them for an hour once a month to talk about relative stuff that's happening in the NBA,” Barkley added. 

First, the network kept Jordan’s role extremely vague. Neither fans nor reporters had any idea initially ‌whether Jordan would be one of the announcers or a special guest analyst for the network. But what the network finally delivered to the fans was highly disappointing. 

Amid the reports of NBC renewing the contract with Jordan, Barkley said that he was “looking forward” to Jordan appearing more for the network. Earlier, it was reported that NBC paid Jordan $40 million for his appearance. However, the network later said that it had never made the contract public.

Charles Barkley wants Michael Jordan back with two other NBA legends

Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan were the greatest superstars that the NBA has ever produced. While Bird and Magic brought the NBA out of a slump with their rivalry in the 1980s, Jordan took the league international with his global stardom. 

“Magic and Larry saved the NBA,” Barkley said during the same interview. “Everybody looks at how great the NBA is today, they don’t realize that before David Stern, the average salary was only $250,000.”

Now, Barkley is urging networks to bring back all three legends on TV.

“Anytime we can get Magic [on TV] cuz the three most important figures in NBA history are Michael, Magic, and Larry Bird.”

While Jordan and Bird have previously been with teams in different capacities after their retirement, they haven’t made TV appearances for NBA games. On the other hand, Johnson has made plenty of guest appearances, including Inside the NBA for TNT. He has also worked as a studio analyst for ESPN and ABC in the past. 

Who among these NBA legends do you most want to see return to TV? Name your pick in the comments.

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Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Souvik Roy