Charles Barkley was like the rest of us.
When he heard before the season that NBC planned to use Michael Jordan as a special contributor in the return of its NBA broadcasts, he was excited.
But things haven’t played out the way Barkley, or anyone else, expected.
Turns out, NBC pretty much just did one interview with Jordan and is using pieces of it throughout the season.
In a recent SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance, Barkley ripped NBC for the approach after such hype.
“I was excited to have Michael because Michael Jordan is the reason we all make this money from the NBA,” Barkley said. “We need Michael Jordan affiliated with the NBA. But now you see this thing coming out with NBC and you’re like, ‘Wait, you all did one interview five months ago and you’re all gonna sprinkle it throughout the season?’ Come on, man. That’s disingenuous by NBC. That’s crazy. I’m so disappointed at the way that worked out.”
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Barkley had even more to say, too.
“It’s a bad look for NBC, it’s just a bad look, plain and simple,” Barkley added. “They couldn’t fly to Michael like once a month and do a new interview? That makes NBC look really bad, plain and simple.”
Jordan’s interview was with Mike Tirico, and it has created some cool talking points.
It’s certainly nothing like having Barkley and the crew on Inside The NBA, though. And it turns out, it’s not even an up-to-date experience.
Instead, MJ just sat down once to chat, and NBC is stretching out what they got.
It’s better than nothing, but not a whole lot better.
