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Loyalty still matters to Charles Barkley.
Barkley said he will not be joining NBC or Amazon’s basketball coverage beginning in 2025-26 season, instead limiting himself to TNT and/or ESPN/ABC.
ESPN has the licensing rights to TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA” show beginning next season and the show will be produced by TNT.
Barkley announced in August that he will be staying with TNT through the duration of his 10-year contract which he signed in 2022.
“I’m informing NBC that I will not accept their offer. I’m gonna cancel my future meetings with Amazon,” Barkley said on “The Steam Room Podcast” alongside Ernie Johnson.
“I want to thank NBC, especially Mark Lazarus and Greg Hughes, for offering me a contract. I want to thank the guys at Amazon, ya’ll have been amazing. But my heart is always and will be at Turner Sports.”
With TNT losing its media rights package with the NBA, many have wondered about what the future holds for Barkley and his fellow “Inside the NBA” hosts in Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
Barkley previously said he would retire after the 2024-25 season before doing an about-face and recommitting to TNT.
The other networks have tried to poach Barkley since he’s arguably the most-popular analyst in all of sports, but he would rather remain with those he knows.
Charles Barkley makes an announcement “I’m informing NBC that I will not accept their offer. I’m gonna cancel future meetings with Amazon… My heart is always and will be at Turner Sports.”(h/t @NBABeyondCourt ) pic.twitter.com/yTSYsNT56C— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 4, 2025
He is now deciding between whether to strictly stick with TNT, despite not having NBA rights, or work on ESPN’s version of “Inside the NBA.”
Barkley said in December he would not work for both networks, but it seems he left that door slightly ajar during his chat with Johnson.
“The only thing I’m waiting on right now, between TNT and ESPN, I met with ESPN, those guys were amazing, I want to thank you guys for taking the time and I just met with the TNT people. I’m hoping this thing comes together and I can stay with TNT and ESPN, but, as I’ve said, it’s all going to be dictated on my workload,” Barkley, 61, said on the podcast. “I’m not going to work more as I get older and I’m going to sit down with ESPN and TNT more because I just need to know, if I’m going to continue working, and that’s my only decision going forward: how much I’m gonna work.
“But I just want to thank everybody that’s been a part of this TNT thing, man. You guys are amazing and I love you to death and I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving here because 25 years is a long time.”
Barkley said he will lean on his support group featuring high-profile media members to help him make this decision.
“I have a good group of friend: Mike Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Bryant Gumbel, Ahmad Rashad, I’ve always asked their opinion on what I should do television-wise,” Barkley said. “Those guys have been great friends and mentors. I’m going to sit down with those guys, ‘This is what TNT, ESPN is offering me as far as a workload.’
