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Charles Barkley backs out of retirement, will remain with TNT through contract
Charles Barkley backs out of retirement, will remain with TNT through contract
In mid-July, NBA analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley announced he was going to retire from television at the end of the 2024-25 season. Though according to a statement released by Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) on Tuesday, Barkley, in the third-year of a 10-year, $210 million contract, will remain with TNT despite it losing its media rights package to Amazon Prime Video and NBC.
Here is what Barkley said in a statement.
“I love my TNT Sports family,” Barkley’s statement read. “My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible. We have the most amazing people, and they are the best at what they do. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them both on the shows we currently have and new ones we develop together in the future. This is the only place for me.
“I have to say … I’ve been impressed by the leadership team who is fighting hard and have been aggressive in adding new properties to TNT Sports, which I am very excited about. I appreciate them and all of my colleagues for their continued support, and most importantly our fans. I’m going to give my all as we keep them entertained for years to come.”
Barkley previously said this regarding his future, when he announced his retirement.
“No matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television,” Barkley said. “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 going to pass the baton at the end of next year.“
Barkley, who’s going to be entering his 25th year on television, told Andrew Marchand of The Athletic last week that Turner must communicate with him “ASAP and they have to guarantee my whole” 10-year deal if they wanted to avoid him being a free agent.
He cohosted Inside The NBA, a pre- and post-game show with Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. They partner with CBS for March Madness coverage that Barkley partakes in each year, though it will be interesting to see what Turner has in store for him outside of that for the next seven years.
According to Marchand, the network is expanding “its programming on TNT Sports so it doesn’t seem out of the question that it could either build a new studio program around Barkley or try to keep its iconic ‘Inside The NBA’ together even after next year.” For those who are fans of Inside The NBA and, specifically, Barkley, that’s encouraging news. This may be the one circumstance where it’s a good idea to keep the crew together, even if an NBA game doesn’t follow the network.
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