June 15 (UPI) — NBA and TV legend Charles Barkley said he plans to retire from broadcasting after the league’s 2024-2025 season.
Barkley announced his decision Friday night on NBATV after the Dallas Mavericks beat the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
His retirement plan coincides with Warner Bros. Discovery’s deal with the NBA expiring after next season. It’s unclear if WBD will keep the NBA as NBC and Amazon have reportedly outbid the media giant, according to the Wallstreet Journal.
“There’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months. I just wanna say, I’ve talked to all of the other networks, but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” Barkley said.
“But, I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me, my heart is full with joy and gratitude. But I’m gonna pass the baton at the end of next year.”
On Saturday, TNT said in a statement: “Charles is a Hall of Famer and broadcasting icon who is and will always be a beloved member of the TNT Sports family,” the statement read. “We’re looking forward to another fantastic NBA on TNT season and further discussion of our future plans with him.”
Barkley came into the public eye as a Hall-of-Fame basketball player, making 11 All-Star teams across 16 NBA seasons.
He also won two Olympic gold medals, won the MVP award in 1993 and was named to the NBA’s 50th and 75th anniversary team.
Despite his illustrious playing career, he said he regrets having never won a championship.
His transition to TV, however, might have netted him even more notoriety than his time on the court.
Since joining TNT’s award-winning studio show “Inside the NBA,” in 2000, Barkley had become a broadcasting icon with his baritone Alabama accent, no-nonsense attitude and humorous approach to sports commentating.
In his almost 25 years on the network, Barkley won four Sports Emmys and was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
Barkley also has appeared as a studio analyst for the joint coverage by TNT and CBS of the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball since 2011.
He briefly flirted with a career in politics, possibly putting in a bid for governor of Alabama, but he said the two-party system left him uninspired.
“I really thought hard about running for governor but then I realized, like, I don’t think either one of these parties are really concerned about people and that’s what America is: people,” he said.