Charles Barkley: Tiger Woods ‘disowned’ me

Charles Barkley might be on the verge of mending his relationship with Michael Jordan, but his seemingly one-sided feud with Tiger Woods remains.

Barkley recently revealed he’s speaking with Jordan again after their friendship deteriorated over a decade ago. The falling out stemmed from Barkley publicly criticizing Jordan’s work as owner and head of basketball operations with the Charlotte Bobcats back in 2012. Thanks to Vince Coleman of all people, Barkley and Jordan are finally starting to repair what was once a strong friendship. As far as their friendship with Tiger Woods, however, that relationship is still broken, and Barkley isn’t sure why.

“I’ve never understood the whole Tiger situation,” Barkley said during a recent appearance with Waddle and Silvy on ESPN Chicago. “I called his agent, I don’t even have Tiger’s number, I said, ‘Let the young guy know I love him, I hope he’s gonna be alright.’ I wish him nothing but the best. Obviously, he has a drug problem, and I got nothing but love for him. He disowned us after one of those car accidents.”

Barkley could not recall the last time he spoke with Woods. But Woods’ relationship with Barkley and Jordan allegedly began to deteriorate after the golfer’s 2009 single-car accident near his Florida home, which ultimately exposed his personal life and infidelity. And while Woods may have begun distancing himself from Barkley and Jordan after his infamous 2009 car accident, Barkley later said that firing longtime caddie Steve Williams in 2011 was his breaking point.

“It’s been very frustrating to watch everything that has transpired,” Barkley told Mike Lupica of Woods in 2011. “And getting rid of Steve Williams was probably the last straw for me.”

But even though firing Steve Williams may have been the last straw, Barkley still considers Woods as being the one who abandoned their friendship.

“Tiger left us,” Barkley continued this week on ESPN Chicago. “I don’t turn on my friends when they do something wrong or make a mistake. But I wish him nothing but the best.”

If Barkley had a conversation with Woods today, nearly two decades after the last time they spoke, he told Waddly and Silvy he would want to acknowledge how difficult it must be to battle a drug problem while living in the spotlight.

“He’s clearly addicted to pain pills,” Barkley said of Woods. “But I’m gonna give him grace. Anybody who’s had an addict in their family, they should understand. It’s brutal.”