Charles Barkley (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery)
Charles Barkley has announced he will retire no matter what happens after next season.
NBA basketball will continue airing on TNT in 2024/25, but it will likely be the last year.
Barkley, who has been with Turner Sports for well over two decades, has vowed not to work for another company if the network loses the broadcast rights for the league. He has also said that next season will be his last as an analyst.
“I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” he said on Friday night. “But I have made the decision that no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me. My heart is full with joy and gratitude.
“I hope the NBA stays with TNT, but for me personally, I wanted you guys to hear it from me … I wanted to tell my NBATV and TNT family that I’m not going to another network, but I’m going to pass the baton to either Jamal Crawford or Vince Carter or you Steve (Smith). But next year, I’m going to just retire after 25 years, and I just wanted to say thank you. And I wanted y’all to hear it from me
first.”
Charles Barkley’s “Retirement Announcement” Isn’t Being Bought By Everyone
It’s believed that this could be a ploy to get the NBA to renew its deal with Turner Sports as Barkley has flirted with retirement many times before but has always changed his mind.
“But color me skeptical. Barkley has been threatening to retire for 30 years,” Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports noted. “And he always returns to the court, or the Inside the NBA studio with a bigger, juicer contract.
“With TNT’s NBA relationship hanging by a thread, maybe Barkley is applying the only pressure he can to keep his network in business with The Association. After talking with ESPN, NBC, and Prime, Barkley said the only network he wants to work for is TNT. The message: Barkley and TNT are a package deal.”
With the future of the immensely popular ‘Inside the NBA’ murky, fans will hope Barkley’s move works, if that’s really what it is.
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