Charles Barkley has confessed that he’s “concerned” about Bill Belichick, following the football coach’s viral interview with CBS News alongside his girlfriend, Jordan Hudson.

During the segment on CBS News’ Sunday Morning, which came out on April 27, Hudson shut down journalist Tony Dokoupil’s question for her boyfriend about how they met. Belichick then defended his girlfriend and said that CBS agreed to only ask him questions about his memoir, which the network later denied.

Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, Basketball legend Barkley showed his support for the University of North Carolina football coach, whom he considers a close friend.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Barkley said. “He’s been a great friend for me for a long time. We’ve been great friends since he coached for the Browns. I think he’s got to be very careful right now. This is starting to be on a very slippery slope.

After calling Belichick the “greatest football coach ever,” Barkley said he “never talks” about other people’s relationships but is worried about his friend.

“I will admit I’m a little concerned with some of the stuff that’s going on,” the Inside the NBA analyst said. “I might actually reach out to him and make sure everything’s good. But I am concerned from what I’m hearing. It’s not a good look right now, I’ll admit that.”

The former NBA star’s comments came shortly after Belichick issued a statement regarding the CBS interview, saying he had informed his Simon & Schuster publicist he would participate only if the discussion focused “solely on the contents” of his book, The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football. However, he claimed that this expectation “was not honored” during his interview.

“I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep that conversation centered on the book,” he said in the statement shared by UNC. “After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion.”

He clarified that his girlfriend was “not deflecting any specific question” and that she was just doing her job of ensuring that the “interview stayed on track.” He also said that while it seemed like she was avoiding the question of how they met, they’ve both previously been open about meeting on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021.

Belichick also claimed that the final eight-minute segment didn’t “reflect the productive 35-minute conversation” he had with Dokoupil.

“Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative — that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation — which is simply not true.”

However, CBS News later issued a statement on X to respond to Belichick’s claims.

“When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview. There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation,” the statement from CBS News’ spokesperson reads. “This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.”

After Hudson said her boyfriend wouldn’t be answering the question about how they met during the CBS interview, Dokoupil stated: “It’s a topic neither one of them is comfortable commenting on.”

However, the journalist still asked about the pair’s social media presence and how football fans are seeing a “different side” of Belichick.

“Yeah, so I’m on some of those social media platforms. But I honestly don’t follow,” Belichick said.

In a statement Tuesday, InkWell Management — a literary agency working with Belichick on his upcoming book — said the interview “veered” into a discussion of Belichick’s personal life and resulted “in a raft of hostile social media posts about his personal life.”

“Bill has written an authoritative and entertaining book about success that should be judged by its contents, not by the clicks generated by the segment,” the agency said.