An interview with ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania was interrupted with multiple technical difficulties during NBA Tip-off, the pregame show featuring the Inside the NBA crew, ahead of Wednesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. And the always honest Charles Barkley called out ESPN during the segment.
Barkley was in the middle of asking Charania a question about what sleeper teams could be very active ahead of the NBA trade deadline, when technical difficulties knocked out Charania’s feed.
Charania returned roughly 10 seconds later, before the technical difficulties returned just over 40 seconds after that.
Charles Barkley, as a Shams Charania segment is hit by technical difficulties:
“ESPN, pay your bills, man. Pay your bills. I know times are tough.” #NBA pic.twitter.com/emT3YxRf2R
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 29, 2026
“ESPN, pay your bills, man,” Barkley said after the second instance of the technical difficulties derailing the Charania interview. “Pay your bills. I know times are tough.”
“He just forgot to pay his phone bill,” Barkley added about Charania before the insider returned for a third try.
“Can you guys hear me? Can you see me?” Charania asked Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith. “I will say, I don’t know how much control I have over this situation, but ESPN is on top of it, hopefully.”
Barkley recently mocked the very light Inside the NBA schedule on ESPN, then told Colin Cowherd to “shut the hell up” about it. And on Saturday night’s edition of Inside the NBA, Barkley mocked the idea of fans attending an NBA game between the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets.
So, while some things have changed with Inside the NBA, Barkley definitely has not.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.