Throughout the NBA postseason, Inside the NBA host Charles Barkley has continuously cracked jokes about his future with TNT amidst talks of the network losing their NBA broadcast rights. And now that NBC has officially taken their spot as a broadcast partner with the league, Barkley is continuing to joke about his uncertain status with TNT.
Barkley made a guest appearance on the ESPN on ABC coverage of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, appearing alongside Steve Levy, Mark Messier, and P.K. Subban on the first intermission show.
His job status was very much a talking point throughout his guest appearance. Steve Levy even did his very best to pitch Barkley on joining ESPN’s NBA coverage.
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1800338318804033942
Barkley did not confirm or deny that he could be taking his talents to ESPN. But given his history of bashing the network’s coverage of the NBA, that may not be all that likely…
Still, Barkley is very clearly unsure of where he will be after TNT’s broadcast deal runs up at the end of the 2024-25 season next year.
He reaffirmed that uncertainty with another joke as he finished up his guest appearance on the Stanley Cup broadcast, joking that he is “still on LinkedIn” and that he “wishes he had a job next year”.
“Listen, I wish I had a job next year,” said Barkley. “I’m on LinkedIn. I put on my resume, they are like ‘You never had a real job’. I said that’s not my fault.”
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1800345619921535337
Clearly, Barkley’s way of dealing with all of the question marks regarding his future is with comedy. But there has to be an underlying uneasy feeling for him as he enters perhaps his final season with the Inside the NBA crew.
