There were NBA Media Days galore on Monday, and Charles Barkley got in on the action by doubling down on his intention to make the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season his last on Inside the NBA.
“I’m looking forward to this last year,” Barkley said, according to Davis Baker of WSFA 12 News in Alabama. “TV has been great to me. I’m gonna take a step back from public life. I’m gonna always come to Auburn, though. I wanted to make that perfectly clear. People ask me, and I say, yeah, I’m stepping back from public life after this year.”
Charles Barkley confirms that this will be his last year on TV doing ‘Inside the NBA’.
“I’m going to take a step back from public life…I’ve had the greatest life a person can have.”@wsfa12news @wsfa12sports pic.twitter.com/jG3zIBGZhB
— Davis Baker (@DavisBakerTV) September 28, 2026
“It’s been a great run,” Barkley continued. “It’s been a great journey. I thank everybody for their support all these years, but I’ll be 64 years old. Ernie [Johnson] asked me to stay a couple more years. Last year was one, this year is two. But I feel really good. This is going to be more like a celebration, because, man, I’ve had the greatest life a person can have.”
Earlier this month, Barkley told Bill Simmons that “next year is my last year, 100 percent” and intimated that Johnson also planned to retire after the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season. Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports later reported that “Johnson’s decision is still up in the air.”
Barkley has developed a bit of a reputation as the broadcaster who cried wolf in relation to his future on Inside the NBA.
For years, he has flirted with retiring — and, at times, dared ESPN to fire him — from the iconic show on which he has starred alongside Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith. This year, however, Barkley seems serious about ending a generationally resonant career on his own terms.
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