The writing has been on the wall for some time that TNT Sports is going to lose the rights to the NBA following next season. That said, there have been conflicting reports about whether or not that’s true, the kind of odds that Warner Bros. Discovery has in making a counteroffer, and just how much WBD CEO David Zaslav really cares if they retain the rights.
For those of us outside of WBD and TNT, we’re pretty much in the dark.
Turns out, that’s the case for a lot of people inside the company as well, including its highest-profile talents.
Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley has been making the rounds recently and he’s had no bones with letting people know his bosses aren’t telling him anything. He’s disappointed in the possibility that next season could be the last for not only Inside the NBA but his time at TNT altogether, and he just wants someone to tell him literally anything about what’s going on.
“That’s the one thing that’s really, really bothered me the most about the TNT experience. Like, hey man, just tell us something,” Barkley told Mad Dog Sports Radio’s Beadle & Decker on Tuesday. “Everybody’s got an article coming out every day about ‘we’ve still got a chance’ or ‘we’ve lost it.’ You guys see us every week, how bout picking up the phone, saying ‘Hey, we still negotiating’ or ‘you know what, we’ve lost it.’
“Just truth us. Cause the one thing that really sucks, we gotta do this next year no matter what.”
https://twitter.com/MadDogRadio/status/1798078835851923714
Charles probably isn’t going to get too much inside info from the folks at WBD as they continue to keep things as close to the vest as possible. And especially considering Barkley is seemingly doing every interview he can these days, they probably don’t want him spilling the beans until it’s official.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.