After announcing his intentions to retire after next season, Charles Barkley will reportedly consider working for one of the NBA’s new partners.
TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley is reportedly reconsidering the retirement announcement he made last month. Per Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Barkley “will listen to offers from ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video as he reconsiders retirement.”
Barkley’s dalliance with retirement is nothing new. The former NBA superstar publicly mused about retirement often during his playing days, and as far back as 2012 during his second act as a broadcaster.
During a conversation with The Athletic, and on the “Dan Patrick Show” Friday, Barkley revealed the current terms of his TNT deal, which pays him $210 million over 10 years. In both conversations, Barkley stated that if TNT would not guarantee the full term of his deal, he’d consider himself a “free agent.” However, Barkley also expressed to both outlets that his current intention is still to retire after next season.
The Barkley-saga is of course playing out alongside new developments in TNT’s efforts to exercise its matching rights, which the NBA rejected earlier this week. TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit Friday alleging a breach of contract and is seeking an injunction to prevent the NBA’s deal with Amazon from proceeding.
Barkley himself released a statement on Friday morning stating, “Clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance. TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future.”
As for his future in broadcasting, Barkley has reportedly already held discussions with all three future NBA partners, though he’d be “hesitant” to go somewhere without his full complement of “Inside the NBA” partners — co-hosts and behind-the-scenes personnel alike. Per The Athletic, other networks could offer to bring over the entire cast and crew of “Inside” and even allow them to remain based in Atlanta.
For someone who still intends to retire in about a year’s time, Barkley has certainly spent a lot of time thinking about his future. History would seem to indicate that the 2024-25 NBA season won’t be the last we see of Barkley.
(The Athletic, 7.26) (Dan Patrick Show, 7.26) (Barkley, 7.26)
