There has been a lot of uncertainty about the future of Charles Barkley in broadcasting in the past year. With TNT losing their NBA rights, it was almost certain that the Inside the NBA crew would no longer stay together and that’d be the end of Chuck’s successful career. But in November last year, Turner managed to strike a deal with ESPN to keep the band together.
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Chuck has several other offers on the table, but since he has pledged allegiance to TNT, it’s nearly impossible to lure him into any other deal. On a recent episode of The Steam Room with Ernie Johnson, the NBA legend cleared the air on his future in broadcasting.
He said, “I’m informing NBC that I will not accept their offer. I’m gonna cancel my future meetings with Amazon.”
He thanked the corporations for trying to sign him, but his “heart is, and always will be at Turner Sports.” Chuck also revealed some details of his meetings with ESPN and said that he is waiting on the final word.
Barkley said, “I’m hoping that this thing comes together and I can stay with TNT and ESPN. But as I’ve said, it’s all gonna be dictated on my workload.”
The Hall of Famer is not prepared to work more at the age of 61. As long as Chuck is allowed to strike a desirable balance between work and personal life, he will be willing to join ESPN.
In November 2024, TNT and the NBA entered into a partnership with ESPN and ABC. Under the new deal, the 21-time Emmy-winning show will start its new chapter with the 2025-26 NBA season. TNT will be allowed to run the show from their Atlanta-based Studio J, except when the show goes on the road.
Charles Barkley was hurt after being blindsided by TNT
Chuck treats the TNT like his family. He has been loyal to them ever since he joined the network and has always maintained that he will not work in the media business if TNT is not involved. The network went through a long battle for the NBA rights as other major players got involved in the market.
However, when ESPN jumped in with a licensing deal, they were able to save the show. Barkley’s issue with the whole situation was that no one at TNT made the effort to let him know that a deal had been finalized with ESPN. During his conversation on The Bettor Angle Show, Barkley expressed his disappointment.
He said, “We have to hear it through the media. And even this thing with ABC/ESPN, I heard about it on the internet. Scott Van Pelt, Brian Windhorst, Elle Duncan, Bob Myers, all friends of mine who I really like a lot. They texted me welcoming me to the ESPN family. I’m like, what happened? TNT didn’t even have the courtesy.”
Although he felt blindsided at the time, Barkley will take up the deal in a heartbeat if the networks resolve his workload issue.
