Charles Barkley Calls Tiger Woods 'More Impressive' Than Michael Jordan

Charles Barkley took time out from his busy schedule of holding down last place at the Lake Tahoe Celebrity Championship this past weekend to talk about two of his best buds: Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. Tiger had just missed the cut at the British Open, and Jordan was competing in the Lake Tahoe event.

When asked about Woods' early exit at Turnberry, Sir Charles explained to the Arizona Republic that, "It bothers me right now that people make such a big deal out of that. He missed one other cut in a major, and that was after his dad died. So that doesn't really count. And to go 13 years and miss one cut in the majors has to be one of the most remarkable achievements out there. That's really impressive. And it shows you the stupidity of certain people who are questioning him."

I can't disagree with any of that, especially the last part. Of course, that doesn't keep the "FIRE HANK HANEY!" nutjobs from spreading the word.

Barkley was also asked to compare Tiger and Jordan:

"I think Tiger is more impressive. He has to play against 130 guys or more every week. He can't control what other people are doing. He can only do his thing. They're the two greatest athletes I've seen in my generation. For me, it's cool to have competed against Michael and watched Tiger in his prime."

Wow. I'm not sure where I stand on this because I've never really thought about it. Yeah, sure, Tiger routinely beats 130 guys when he tees it up, but let's be honest: 115 of them had no chance heading into the tournament. Not physically -- just about everybody hits it 300-plus off the tee and can get up and down from 100 yards, no problem -- but mentally.

Jordan, to an extent, was able to control others around him, but there's only so much you can do with Stacey King and B.J. Armstrong, even as the best player on the planet. In that sense, MJ was on his own, especially when you consider all the double-teams he regularly faced.

Ultimately, Barkley comes to the right conclusion: "They're the two greatest athletes I've seen in my generation." I think we can all agree with that. Well, most of us, anyway.