Charles Barkley may not be eager to work with NBC or Amazon, yet Turner Sports seems even less enthusiastic about him joining those platforms. Recently, Barkley revealed that he turned down an offer from NBC and canceled meetings with Amazon. However, he remains hesitant to fully commit to Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT Sports until they clarify his future schedule with ESPN. As Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to lose NBA game rights, they have come to an agreement for ESPN to license Inside the NBA starting next season. Before making any decisions regarding offers from NBC and Amazon, Barkley claims that TNT Sports issued a cease-and-desist letter to both networks.
On Tuesday morning, Barkley appeared on The Dan Patrick Show. Following his statements about not joining NBC or Amazon, Patrick sought clarification on whether that means Barkley will remain at TNT. “I could always have stayed at TNT,” Barkley said. “But I put in my contract I could get out of there if they lost the NBA. You know, it’s really funny, the TNT people, they’re stupid. They wrote a cease and desist letter to Amazon and NBC, which really pissed me off. They’re trying to imply that they traded my show to ESPN and that’s equivalent to keeping it. I’m like, I disagree with that interpretation.”
Barkley continued, “We were having some heated discussions behind the scenes in Atlanta. They sent a cease and desist letter to NBC and Amazon claiming I wasn’t available. I was like, that’s not how my contract is structured. You lost the NBA; if I wanted to leave, I could. That’s the core issue. They insist that I’m under contract, but I said, ‘I’ll take my chances in court, and I feel confident about my odds because, no matter what they argue, being traded to ESPN isn’t the same as being bound to TNT in my eyes.’”
This past summer, Barkley expressed his frustration over the behind-the-scenes crew at Inside the NBA amidst Warner Bros. Discovery’s impending loss of game rights for TNT while emphasizing his reluctance to start fresh with a new network and management. The company managed to preserve the show by licensing it to ESPN, yet Barkley has been resistant to this transition. Although being traded to ESPN is indeed different from being under contract with TNT, it appears that Barkley will still be associated with TNT Sports, with Inside the NBA continuing to be produced there, originating in Atlanta while maintaining editorial control. Perhaps Barkley is simply seeking any opportunity for leverage to negotiate a higher salary. If that’s the case, then more power to him. However, for someone who claims to seek clarity on his future, he seems to be the one creating a rollercoaster of uncertainty around his media career.
