Charles Barkley didn’t mince words when asked about TNT losing to ESPN in the battle for NBA media rights. With Inside the NBA’s future uncertain and ESPN set to become the league’s primary broadcast partner, Barkley expressed both frustration and disappointment, especially with how things unfolded behind the scenes.
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Chuck, along with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal, are all locked into long-term contracts. But he made it clear that their job security doesn’t erase the harsh reality that many others in the crew are facing.
He pointed out that nearly 200 people, longtime colleagues and behind-the-scenes workers, could be out of jobs due to what he bluntly described as a failure on TNT’s part. Barkley is deeply affected by the uncertainty that now looms over the future of the people who worked with him.
“That’s the part that really sucks. You know, it’s so crazy, because in the 24 years, that’s a long time. There’s people who have brought their kids in when they were newborn,” Chuck said during a conversation with Jimmy Traina last year.
The NBA legend recently made an appearance on 101 ESPN and talked about the takeover and what it is going to look like.
“We really don’t know. People we work for screwed us up and lost the NBA. So, we thought it was the end of the show, and ESPN came and said, ‘Hey, what if we take the show?’” Chuck said.
Barkley wants to address a few concerns before he steps into the new partnership with ESPN. His biggest work is the work schedule. At the age of 62, Chuck isn’t looking to work more than he used to and compromise on his personal and family time. The details are still being hashed out, including how many days a week the Inside crew would work under a new setup.
“When you get older, you should work less. Anybody [who] works more when they get older is an idiot,” he said.
Barkley’s concerns are valid. And over the last few decades, he has worked on his terms with TNT. That said, he also understands the enormity of the moment.
Working with ESPN, the biggest sports network in the world, is an honor in itself. However, he is still not over the fact that TNT couldn’t outbid ESPN and the other networks.
Despite his long-standing partnership with TNT, he has been very critical of their moves over the last year. Chuck also sensed unprofessionalism at TNT because they didn’t even inform him when the show got transferred to ESPN.
“I learned from people at ESPN that we had been traded to ESPN. TNT did not even have the common courtesy that we were going to work for ESPN. How unprofessional is that?” he told Sports Illustrated earlier this year. Chuck had also expressed his frustration over the fact that Kenny and Shaq weren’t even included in the initial contract.
Now, the much-loved NBA on TNT is over. Today was the last airing of the show, and Ernie Johnson bid, what can only be called quite an emotional goodbye. Charles Barkley, on the other hand, chose to thank everyone who supported his 25-year journey with the show.
After all, what a 25 years they have been. Even with the crew moving to ESPN, it is unlikely the soul of the most entertaining sports show in history would remain intact.
