No one believes that Charles Barkley is retiring.
Many sports media outlets and personalities believe his frustration with the ongoing negotiations surrounding the NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA’s future is clouding his judgment, and largely suspect that emotion is what’s in the driver’s seat right now.
As Sports Media Watch’s Jon Lewis noted, Barkley has threatened to retire several times and has not followed through in his broadcasting career. While the 61-year-old Barkley could certainly not be bluffing, there are those who have worked with him, including Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, who don’t necessarily believe that Barkley’s public decision stems from emotion.
“I absolutely love Charles Barkley,” said Green on his The Draymond Green Show. “Y’all know where our journey started. Our journey didn’t start in a great place. Chuck used to sit on TV and say he was gonna punch me in the face. He called me Mr. Triple-Single. He’s had his fair share of jabs. I’ve had my fair share of jabs as well. Nonetheless, I absolutely love that brother. He’s incredible, he’s amazing, and if he retires, what a sad day for NBA basketball.
“I mean, we’ve all grown accustomed to hearing that voice for the last 27 years talk NBA basketball. So, what a sad day for NBA basketball whenever Chuck decides to retire.”
But Green doesn’t believe that’ll come after the 2024-25 season.
“However, I just think Chuck’s being very emotional,” Green added. “I don’t think Chuck’s about to retire. I think Chuck’s in a very emotional state right now. And, he’s processing those emotions. And you know, one day you may wake up and be like, ‘You know what? I’m done with this stuff. I’m outta here’ while you’re processing those emotions. And then you go a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months because this decision doesn’t have to be made today, tomorrow, or the next day.
“And then you’ll probably come to your senses and be like, ‘I’m not retiring, what was I thinking about?’ But you never really come back and tell people, ‘I don’t know what the hell I was thinking?’ You kind of go along with it and move on to the next thing, and that’s what I expect from Chuck.
“I expect Chuck to never come back and tell us, ‘Ah, I was trippin’, I’m not retiring. I’m moving on to the next thing.’ But we will all watch him gracefully move on to the next thing.”
Green wouldn’t speculate on Barkley’s future, whether he stays with Turner or look elsewhere if they lose the NBA rights. He avoided hypotheticals. However, his main point is that he believes emotions, not a firm decision, drive Barkley’s announcement.
“I think Chuck was just in his feelings. And as great as he is, at times, we can all get in our feelings and get those thoughts twisted and not quite process them the way we thought we were processing them,” Green said. “And that, quite frankly, is what I think Chuck is going through right now.
“I don’t think Chuck is retiring. I hope Chuck don’t retire. Chuck is absolutely incredible. We all love Chuck, even the ones who tend to hate or think they hate him; you listen because we all love hearing what he has to say…So, sad a day that would be. And I hope that’s not the case. But if it is the case, we would do it properly, but it’s been a job well done, sir.
“It’s been an absolutely incredible pleasure to turn on TNT and hear Sir Charles make fun of people and talk great about people, but more importantly, entertain us like we’ve never been entertained during a basketball show in the history of the game we love.”
So, Green doesn’t believe Barkley is going anywhere.