We still don’t know where Charles Barkley will work beyond the 2024-25 NBA season, but if anything’s certain, it’s that this year of Inside the NBA is bound to be a delight.
Barkley is the signature face of NBA coverage, and one of the most recognizable people in the league’s orbit. Among diehards, his brand of goofy, defiant analysis rubs some the wrong way. But Inside‘s audience speaks for itself, and in a new interview with USA Today ahead of what could be the show’s last season, Barkley defended his approach to talking hoops.
“You can’t just talk about basketball for regular fans,” Barkley said. “The rest of the people, you’ve got to make them laugh or be entertained. That’s really the most important part.”
Barkley is uniquely aware not only of the fact that he is a television host before he is a basketball analyst, but also what entertains people. Each night on Inside, you are equally likely to get a laughter-drenched treatise from Barkley on the city of Galveston, Texas, as you are a breakdown of why Nikola Jokić is great.
In the piece from USA Today NBA reporter Jeff Zilgitt, longtime Inside anchor Ernie Johnson explained that Barkley brought this approach from the jump.
“When you threw Chuck in there, his whole view was, ‘Look, if the game’s horrible, let’s talk about something else,’” Johnson said. “What he planted in the minds of viewers was this, ‘I don’t know what might happen. I know if I turn on this basketball show, it may not all be basketball, and a lot of times when it’s not, it’s really funny.’”
Over time, Johnson realized that Barkley was onto something. Now, he can’t imagine doing a straight-up sports talk show.
“I couldn’t imagine if I went in there and was getting ready for the show and I thought, ‘The only thing we’re going to be doing tonight is talking basketball,'” Johnson told USA Today.
As an NBA show, Inside is great. What makes it special is the uncountable viral moments from all its years on the air, where Barkley or cohost Shaquille O’Neal are bound to end up in a fit of tears.
Whether that’s O’Neal insisting he’s saving money on gas or Barkley laughing at the “police presence” at Staples Center after Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets barged into the Los Angeles Clippers locker room, it’s hard to argue with the results.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.