According to Charles Barkley, he falls short of 1.94 billion reasons to be more attractive than Michael Jordan. He was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to talk about his own talk show, King Charles, with Gayle King. Instead, he turned it into a contest of best-looking NBA legends of which he is judge, jury, and winner.

Discounting the slander to the ninth sexiest bald man in the world aka Shaquille O’Neal, Sir Charles made it very clear. “Hey, I’m not great lookin’ but I’m better lookin’ than Michael Jordan.” Note: Jordan was voted no.5 on the same list that put Shaq four places down.

As he did with Shaq on TNT, Chuck dismissed the list. He also dismissed King’s opinion after she said, “I saw Michael Jordan at a wedding recently. He looks fantastic, just sayin’.” 

To that, Barkley retorted, “That’s ’cause he’s got $2 billion.” It’s actually $3 billion, Chuck. But his point is, “Money evens out the ugly.” Gayle King didn’t look like she agreed, but Colbert chimed in, “Cash is a great aphrodisiac.” 

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Barkley and Jordan aren’t on the best terms anymore. But he still takes the liberty to joke about His Airness. Then again, sharing the same studio with Shaq doesn’t dull his sharp tongue either.

Charles Barkley is not winning

A month ago, the Inside the NBA analysts ribbed Shaq till the end of the show for his ninth rank. Barkley even questioned the credibility of the list because it featured in the South Africa edition of GQ. And he claims, “Shaq is ugly in all 50 states,” of the USA as well as in Africa.

For his part, O’Neal firmly believed he should’ve been higher than Michael Jordan. While Barkley claims, “I’m damn sure better lookin’ than Shaquille O’Neal,” the consensus doesn’t say so.

He caused a frenzy on social media making people tag The Late Show on X to chime in with their opinions. It’s pretty even split between Shaq’s cheeky smile and MJ’s brooding face. “Mr. Cranky Pants,” as Gayle dubbed Chuck, is not even in contention.

But he’s winning in the humor and wit department. And he’s successfully winning over new viewers for King Charles who want to see more of that signature “unapologetic” Sir Charles. It still needs to be asked though – who is better looking among Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal?