Charles Barkley announces next season will be his last one on TV.
Barkley, member of the highly famous, award-winning “Inside the NBA” studio show, expressed Friday night that the 2024-25 season will be his final with TNT and that he won’t be coworking any other network beyond that, either
I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” Barkley announced on NBATV following the Dallas Mavericks’ Game 4 success over the Boston Celtics on Friday night. “But I have made the mind that no matter what occurs, next year is going to be my final year on television. And I just wish to say thank you to my NBA family. You people have been fabulous to me. My heart is full of happiness and gratitude.”
The NBA has been neglecting its next media rights agreements, which would start in the 2025-26 season. While the league hasn’t declared what the deals will look like, Disney/ABC/ESPN, Amazon, NBC and Warner Bros. Discovery have been vying for what’s reported to be three available agreements of games and affiliated content worth about $76 billion to the league over a decade.
If Warner Bros. Discovery is the odd media organization out, it would mean the last of games on TNT and no more “Inside the NBA.”
“I hope the NBA keeps with TNT, but for me privately, I wanted you guys to hear it from me … I wished to tell my NBA TV 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 Steve (Smith),” Barkley Expressed.
“But next year, I’m going to just retire after 25 years, and I just wanted to say thank you. And I wished y’all to hear it from me first.”
Ahead of the NBA Finals, commissioner Adam Silver called the media rights procedure “incredibly complex” depending on the technology involved (broadcast, cable and streaming), the competing bidders and a timeline stretching into an unauthorized future.
Asked about the potential end of the Sports Emmy Award-winning “Inside the NBA,” with host Ernie Johnson and ex-players Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Barkley, if WBC’s agreement with the league next spring finishes, Silver expressed his sympathy with the condition.
To the folks at Turner Sports, I am sorry that this has been a prolonged procedure, because I know they’re in agreement with their jobs,” he announced. “It’s a large portion of their identity and their households identity, and no one likes this uncertainty. I think it’s on the league office to bring these negations to a head and conclude them as rapidly as we can.