There’s a Chance You Won’t Come out Alive”: Barkley Recalls the Harshness of Bad Boys Pistons

Ever since ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ began, the NBA community is ripe with opinions. While active players praise legend Michael Jordan, former players recollect memories from their time with him. Recently, NBA veteran Charles Barkley expressed his opinions about Jordan and had some inputs about the Detroit’s Bad Boys Pistons.

Charles Barkley’s views on how the Bad Boys Pistons caused havoc in the NBA

NBA legends Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan were really close friends for years. Unfortunately, the two Hall of Famers associate little with one another now.

While being cutthroat rivals on the court, Barkley and Jordan forged a bond with teammates on the Dream Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Barkley even appeared in the iconic Michael Jordan-starring film, “Space Jam.”

Things, however, apparently went south after Barkley became a media personality.

Despite their broken friendship, Barkley deplored over how much he missed his old pal. He also praised MJ, labeling him as the “greatest basketball player ever” and wished the legend “nothing but the best.”

Recently, ESPN shared a video of the show Coffee with Cal, a show hosted by Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Charles Barkley was the guest. He shared some of his favorite Michael Jordan stories and also expressed what he felt about the Pistons team from that era.

Talking about how Michael Jordan was the victim of real Bad Boy Pistons play,

“The physical beating they were putting on that dude you gotta say to yourself d*mn. The physical beating he was taking, it was incredible.”

He also disclosed what it was like to play against Detroit in those days.

Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, John Salley, Dennis Rodman and several other well-known figures lead Detroit back then. The team took on a physical, more defense-oriented style of play, which eventually earned them the nickname “Bad Boys”.

The recent episodes of ‘The Last Dance’ well documented the Bulls-Pistons rivalry. Former players from both teams in that era continue to embrace the hatred.