Charles Barkley is one game away from enjoying summer vacation, but he’s also one important decision away from feeling like he got fired.
Barkley exuded happiness Sunday night after the Dallas Mavericks took a 3-0 Western Conference Finals lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We are one day away from vacation, y’all,” Barkley said as he exited the arena. “I’m in a great mood. One more day, I’ll be on vacation for four months.”
Vacation for four months, back to work for one season, and then Barkley’s future as an NBA analyst is questionable. The NBA is reportedly finalizing media deals with Disney, NBA, and Amazon, putting the futures of the NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA in doubt. Barkley has been very candid about the possibility of Warner Bros. Discovery losing the NBA on TNT, expressing concern for his behind-the-scenes coworkers, while also ripping his bosses for botching negotiations with the league.
Barkley’s latest interview came with Cameron Cox on Phoenix’s NBC affiliate 12News where he admitted he doesn’t know whether the Inside the NBA crew will move to another network should TNT’s 35-year partnership with the league come to an end. And if Barkley doesn’t end up with another network after next season, he’ll find other ways of occupying his time.
“I’m gonna enjoy – it’s not even retirement. I got fired. I didn’t retire. I got fired,” Barkley told 12News in Phoenix.
Charles Barkley talks Inside the NBA and if the gang will move to NBC. (4/7) @12SportsAZ
“Out all of all the people in the world.. Think it’s like 300M.. And I ain’t met them all obviously, but there’s nobody in the world better at doing nothing than me.”
I checked: There’s… pic.twitter.com/Z7TYcu2lrJ
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) May 27, 2024
“I’m not mad for myself. What I’m saying is when I get fired, ‘Dude, you’re going to get to play some more golf. You’re going to get to smoke some more cigars. You’re going to be able to drink some more beer.’ More free time,” Barkley happily noted. “I’ve said this before. Out of all the people in the world, I think there’s like 300 million, somewhere in that range… there’s nobody in the world better at doing nothing than me.”
Barkley underestimated the earth’s population just a little bit. For the sake of accuracy, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the world population reached 8 billion last year.
While Barkley continues to speak as if his tenure as a basketball analyst is coming to an end, NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently seemed less certain.
“We’re never gonna lose Charles and Kenny,” Silver told TMZ. “They’re always going to be covering the NBA.”
Someone should tell Barkley. Because it seems like the 61-year-old Pro Basketball Hall-of-Famer already came to terms with being “fired.”
[12News]
