The NBA experienced a watershed moment in its broadcasting rights when it signed an 11-year deal with Disney (ABC and ESPN), NBC, and Amazon worth $76 billion. The move divided opinions among fans and analysts. The NBA legend Charles Barkley looked to be particularly hurt since it would mean the end of the beloved Inside the NBA show, on which he had been an analyst since 2000.

Barkley came forward to opine that the “owners and commissioners choose money over the fans.” He also expounded that the moment was a sad one for the entire industry. However, in the past, Barkley had come forward to support Silver when the NBA introduced the player participation policy. And that doesn’t mean that Barkley stepped back from voicing his thoughts when he held a contrary opinion. Let’s look at some history between the two.

Charles Barkley supports Adam Silver

The Player Participation policy had a few things that didn’t apparently go down well with players. The policy stated that no more than one star player could miss the same game. Plus, it also enforced that players who weren’t injured should be available to ply their trade. It even stated that the resting players if healthy, should make their presence felt in the game by being visible to fans from the bench.

Silver had then come on the NBA on TNT show and opined that this wasn’t to disturb players. Instead, it was to benefit them and the fans. The NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, another heavy name on the show, asked Silver how would he enforce it. The NBA Commissioner had then revealed that “this isn’t about turning the clock back.” He further added that “as a last resort, we’ll bring independent doctors.” 

Barkley had supported Silver by enumerating that players make $50-60 million through the NBA and hence, it was their duty to give the best to the sport. “Forget the ownership, forget the fans…If you make $50-60 million to pay basketball three or four days a week. Play basketball man!” Barkley had remarked. Barkley had also sorted out his assumptions over the In-Season tournament.

Charles Barkley ultimately agreed with Adam Silver regarding In-Season Tournament

Adam Silver had revealed the In-Season Tournament where 30 teams were split into 5 teams each with one group. And then out of them, 8 teams were to advance to the single elimination round that ended with a semifinal and Championship game. Initially, there were a lot of questions regarding that too.

However, Silver opined that they were all “regular season games” and he had taken the concept from “international sports.” According to Silver, they were just going to “create a new tradition.” After patiently listening to Silver, Barkley revealed that he thought “it was like a specialized thing.” He further added, via the NBA on TNT show, “now I actually feel better about it,” via the NBA on TNT show. Thus, Barkley gave much-needed support to Silver during the changes to the league and the introduction of new rules. However, Barkley at one time did oppose Silver.

Charles Barkley opposes Adam Silver over Kyrie Irving

Barkley had questioned Silver when Kyrie Irving promoted antisemitic sentiments on his X account in November 2022. Barkley who has a Jewish son-in-law had urged Silver to suspend him. He stated that “Adam’s Jewish” and hence, Irving “can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion.”

Barkley brought into notice those instances when the NBA had “suspended people and fined people” for “homophobic slurs.” And according to him “that was the right thing to do.” He was supported by his co-host Shaq, who called Irving “an idiot.” Even Nike had come forward to criticize Irving for what was viewed to be hate speech, as per Times of Israel.

The Nets had subsequently banned Irving, who later is said to have met Silver to discuss the issue. Silver looked to be disappointed by Irving who apologized for his behavior. Eventually, Irving also deleted the tweet and issued a public apology on the social networking media site Instagram apart from agreeing to donate $500,000 each along with the Nets to anti-hate groups. Hopefully, Silver will respond to Barkley even this time.

As of now, Barkley doesn’t appear extremely happy with Silver heading the media rights decision. Though Barkley had previously announced that he would retire after the 2024-25 NBA season and will not go into talks with other channels, the end of his prolific career certainly seems near after this recent announcement.

Hopefully, Barkley and Silver will be able to resolve their issues. And as for fans, they will be hoping to get another show with as perfect analysis as Inside the NBA. Till then admirers have one more year to enjoy their favorite channel and hear Barkley’s opinions on the NBA.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.