After letting his retirement announcement settle for one month, Charles Barkley doesn’t appear ready to waver on his plans.
Following Game 4 of the NBA Finals last month, Barkley revealed next season will be his last in sports media. The announcement came as the future of Inside the NBA was in doubt, with Warner Bros. Discovery on the verge of losing NBA game rights, subsequently ending TNT’s 35-year partnership with the league. Earlier this week, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported the NBA has finalized media rights agreements with Disney, NBC Universal, and Amazon Prime Video.
Once approved by the NBA Board of Governors, WBD will have five days to exercise its matching rights, which could turn into a legal dispute. The new package will go into effect for the 2025-26 NBA season.
In the wake of this news, Barkley appeared on CNBC’s Closing Bell with host Scott Wapner and contributor Dominic Chu Thursday afternoon. During the segment, Wapner asked Barkley to clarify his retirement announcement.
Charles Barkley on streaming in sports: “When you start just going to the highest bidder and you’re not on regular television, I think you do a disservice to the fan.” pic.twitter.com/d4B86dymTC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 11, 2024
“I really hope we match, I honestly, in my heart, I think we have lost the package. That’s my honest opinion,” Barkley said. “But the main reason I was talking about next year being my last year, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to work for another network. It will be 25 years that I’ve been working with Turner and I love everybody at Turner. But at this age, to go over and start over, I don’t know that I want to do that.”
Wapner proceeded to ask Barkley if there was a certain dollar amount that could persuade him to go to another network. To which Barkley essentially implied he’s made enough money throughout his career that he doesn’t need to consider going to another network or outlet regardless of the offer.
“I played in the NBA for 15 years. I’ve been in television for 24 years,” Barkley said. “If I don’t have enough money by now, I’m the biggest loser in the world.”
That’s a stark reversal from two years ago when Barkley said he would “kill a relative” for $200 million amid reports that he could leave the NBA on TNT for a role with LIV Golf. A few months later, Barkley signed a 10-year deal worth more than $100 million that didn’t require him to kill a relative. If TNT loses NBA rights and Barkley retires after next season, that contract will have lasted just three years.
In recent months, Barkley has faulted WBD executives, specifically CEO David Zaslav, for botching negotiations with the NBA. But NBC and Amazon offer two things that WBD and TNT can’t compete with. NBC is a broadcast network, and Amazon is a behemoth of a streaming platform. TNT is neither of those. Barkley, however, didn’t speak highly of the NBA’s efforts to prioritize streaming in its next media rights deal.
“You got greedy players and greedy owners,” Barkley told CNBC. “They don’t really care about anything but how to make the most money possible. We should never put money above the regular fan. Everybody can’t afford streaming. There’s nothing wrong with streaming, but when you start just going to the highest bidder, and you’re not on regular television, I think you do a disservice to the fan…the fan is always the most important thing.”
Regardless of whether WBD is able to exercise its matching rights, Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson will be together for at least one more season on Inside the NBA. What happens after that remains a question mark. About as much of a question mark as Barkley’s retirement plans are. Because even if he doubles and triples down on his retirement plans in the coming months, no one will believe Barkley is capable of shutting off his mic for good until he actually walks away.
[CNBC]
