TNT Best Friend Exposes Charles Barkley’s Mistake, Calls His Bluff On Retirement News: “I’m Not Retiring”

Things were expected to change in a big manner for the charismatic ‘Inside The NBA’ crew once it became apparent that TNT would not be able to hold on to its NBA media rights. The first domino fell a couple of days ago, as Philadelphia 76ers legend Charles Barkley announced his decision to retire as a television commentator by the end of the next NBA season. Having been a part of the behind-the-scenes sports world for over 24 years now, the former player made it clear that even with ‘Inside the NBA’ ending, he will not choose to take his talents to any other networks like ESPN, NBC, etc. Despite Barkley being adamant about his decision, the same route is not something that his co-host is willing to undertake.

Two-time NBA champion and ‘Inside the NBA’ co-host Kenny Smith recently attended the Australian NBL’s ‘Next Stars event’ being held in New York City. When taking center stage, he kicked off his introduction by jokingly stating “I’m Kenny Smith and I’m not retiring”. The remark was enough to enact a few laughs from the audience. However, the former player didn’t stop and further revealed his true thoughts by stating “How do you say you’re going to retire and not call the people you work with? We’ll see”.

From the looks of it, Charles Barkley did not inform Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson Jr about his decision to exit. After all, the announcement was made by him not during an ‘Inside the NBA’ segment, but when he was covering Game 4 of the Finals for NBA TV. In the immediate aftermath of the groundbreaking news, Barkley’s co-hosts did not make any public statement about the person with whom they have worked for over a decade. Until one of them did.

By concluding his statement with “We’ll see”, Kenny Smith may have highlighted that he, and maybe even Shaq and Ernie, do not believe that Charles Barkley will follow through on his promise. After all, this isn’t the first time when the former player highlighted some plans that he abandoned later. Furthermore, by not informing his co-hosts about such a big decision, Barkley may have indicated that he is not serious about the same. Fortunately, Smith is not alone in holding this belief.

Draymond Green and Stephen A. Smith do not believe Charles Barkley’s retirement decision

While still serving as an active NBA player, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green occasionally serves as a guest host on ‘Inside the NBA’ during his post-season. He was one of the first people from the NBA fraternity to speak out when Charles Barkley made his retirement announcement. Discussing the same in an episode of his long-running podcast, the 34-year-old highlighted his belief that Charles Barkley is not serious about this decision that can have a big impact on his life.

“I think Chuck is just in a very emotional state right now, and he’s processing those emotions” said the Warriors power forward. “One day you may wake and be like, ‘You know what? I’m done with this stuff. I’m out of here’… And then you probably come to your senses and be like, ‘I’m not retiring. What was I thinking about?’ The point I’m making is, I think Chuck was just in his feelings.”

Possessing the same thought process as the NBA player was renowned ESPN sportscaster Stephen A. Smith. Discussing Barkley’s retirement on his show, Smith made it clear that he is, in no way, calling the former player a liar and instead believes him to be a “sincere” individual. Despite this, he believed that Barkley only announced to highlight his displeasure for the management team over at TNT.

“I just think he’s p****d off at the way colleagues at TNT are being thrown out to pasture in [front of] his eyes” said the 56-year-old personality. “He’d rather walk away than work for somebody else while they find themselves looking for a job because he feels that sick about it!”

Do you believe that Charles Barkley may finally hang up his cape for good? Or is he not being serious about his announcement? Let us know in the comments down below.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about the Lakers legend’s infamous feud with the late Kobe Bryant.