Less than two weeks after Charles Barkley admitted to having a man crush on Tom Brady, America was able to see their new favorite couple interact on live television.

Earlier this month, Barkley lauded Brady for being a “pretty man,” claiming he loses himself in the quarterback’s eyes whenever they’re having a conversation. But it was Brady who looked to be at a loss for words during their conversation Sunday night, when he and Aaron Rodgers joined Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson on Inside the NBA to promote the next installment of The Match.

Rodgers and Brady will tee off against Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes June 1 at the Wynn Las Vegas, with that match airing on TNT and simulcast on truTV and HLN. During his appearance on Inside the NBA, Brady said he’s willing to place a wager on The Match, but noted the other quarterbacks involved earn a much higher annual NFL salary than he does. While Rodgers, Allen and Mahomes have much larger NFL contracts than Brady does, that’s not really indicative of how big his wallet is.

“Tom, number one, if you’re worried about being the lowest paid guy, why don’t you just quit, retire again and go to TV, I hear you got some change coming your way,” Barkley said.

“All in due time,” Brady responded after a brief awkward pause, before he quickly changed the topic and offered Inside the NBA a compliment.

“I think you guys are doing just fine yourself. Speaking of that, I love your show,” Brady continued. “The best camaraderie, I think everybody in television tries to emulate what you do, so keep it up. It’s like a very dysfunctional Thanksgiving family dinner.”

Spoken exactly like a person who was trained by the New England Patriots to evade difficult questions when speaking to the media.

Inside the NBA is one of the best sports shows in television for the camaraderie cited by Brady, but also because of its hosts’ willingness to speak on any topic. The 44-year-old quarterback just landed what will reportedly amount to $375 million from Fox to be their lead NFL analyst whenever he decides to retire from playing.

Brady will be comfortable in front of the camera, and he obviously knows the game as well as anyone, but his skill of dodging difficult topics is the opposite of what Fox will want him to portray as an analyst. If Brady is going to be better than average to prove himself worthy of the baffling contract, he’ll have to take his own advice and emulate Inside the NBA by lessening his filter.

[NBA on TNT]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com