Topline
Former NBA MVP and one of sport’s highest-paid announcers Charles Barkley said Friday night he will retire from broadcasting after the next season, splitting up his longtime broadcasting partnership with fellow MVP Shaquille O’Neal and potentially putting a dagger into TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA,” as its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be losing its NBA TV coverage.
Charles Barkley said he will retire from his 24-year NBA broadcasting career at the end of next … [+]
Key Facts
Barkley, 61, said he is “going nowhere other than TNT”—where he reportedly landed a massive 10-year, $100 million contract extension just two years ago—while speaking on NBA TV’s post-game coverage of the Dallas Mavericks’ 122-84 win over the Boston Celtics in game four of the NBA Finals Friday night.
Barkley, a four-time Sports Emmy Award winner added “no matter what happens,” the 2024-2025 NBA season will be his “last on television,” ending a 24-year broadcasting career marked by bold and sometimes controversial statements and on-air antics.
Barkley made it clear in an interview with Sports Illustrated there was “no chance in hell” he would work until he’s 70 years old.
Barkley’s retirement announcement comes as Warner Bros. faces the increasingly likely possibility of losing its NBA coverage as its media rights deal expires at the end of next season, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Multiple outlets have reported in recent weeks the league is nearing a deal with rivals NBC, Disney and Amazon, with Disney reportedly coughing up between $2.6 billion and $2.8 billion a year for rights on its subsidiaries ABC and ESPN, while Amazon would pay an estimated $1.8 billion to $2 billion, and NBC would reportedly pay $2.6 billion.
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Chief Critic
Barkley has criticized those media rights negotiations, blasting Warner Bros. executives as “clowns” last month following reports TNT could lose its three-plus-decade agreement with the NBA, while lamenting network executives “screwed this thing up” in an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show.” Barkley has so far been the most outspoken of the “Inside the NBA” hosting squad about the negotiations. O’Neal, meanwhile, has publicly expressed confidence in TNT preserving the show’s core broadcasting team. Co-hosts Ernie Johnson and Kenny “The Jet” Smith have remained quiet on ongoing negotiations. Barkley has also alluded to the group moving to a new network, telling “The Dan Patrick Show” he has had conversations about moving the show to his independent production company, Fine Line Productions, though it would need to secure a broadcasting company.
Tangent
While Barkley’s departure would mark the end of an era for TNT’s gaggle of former players-turned-TV-buddies, it is not entirely surprising. Barkley has hinted at retirement previously, saying two years ago he planned to step down at the end of his contract in 2024. The former NBA MVP had also suggested to The Athletic in 2018 he was hoping to retire at the age of 60 to still “be young enough” to enjoy “life and have fun.” Barkley turned 60 last February without a retirement. Instead, he inked a 10-year contract extension with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Surprising Fact
Barkley’s career has also, at times, been marred in controversy, suspensions and fines. In 1996, he was fined $5,000 by the league for an on-court fight with Charles Oakley in a preseason game. He landed a $10,000 fine in 1991 and a one-game suspension for appearing to attempt to spit on a fan who had heckled him, instead spitting on a girl in the stands.