David Feherty made the jump from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf and he would have loved to see Charles Barkley make an unprecedented shift from the NBA to join him.
Feherty joined the latest episode of Stephen A. Smith’s Know Mercy podcast and during the interview, the former professional golfer and longtime analyst was asked about the prospect of working with Barkley.
“Charles Barkley was thinking about coming over,” Smith said of Chuck’s flirtation with LIV Golf. “Didn’t work out, obviously he was offered the opportunity to come over there and be a part of LIV Golf with Greg Norman and those guys reaching out.”
I don’t know that Barkley’s conversations with Norman ever reached the point of receiving an official offer as Smith portrayed, but for a brief moment last summer, there was a legitimate thought that he could leave his role with TNT’s Inside the NBA for a more lucrative opportunity with LIV Golf.
“I would have loved Charles,” Feherty said. “I had him on my talk show and just, you know Charles, he’s just a joy to be around. One of the kindest, nicest people that you’re ever going to meet in your life. So I would love to have seen him.”
The “talk show” Feherty referred to was his weekly primetime interview program on the Golf Channel that aired from 2011-2020. During his interview with Smith, Feherty admitted that show is what he misses most about working with the Golf Channel. But Feherty left the Golf Channel and NBC last summer for a five-year contract with LIV Golf and their deep pockets, which are controversially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Like Feherty, Barkley was similarly willing to look past Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses if it meant getting paid big to join LIV. But LIV ultimately wasn’t able to meet Barkley’s need for them to cover the money he’d lose by leaving his contract with Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as the potential endorsement deals he would lose for partnering with Saudi Arabia.
Instead, Barkley was able to leverage his LIV interest into a massive new deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to continue his role on Inside the NBA, landing a 10-year contract worth upwards of $200 million, while Feherty is left to ponder what could have been.
