Charles Barkley’s Lavish Travel Plans Allegedly in Jeopardy Thanks to New ESPN Deal

“Times have changed, Kenny. We gotta go back to kissing a–.” Two weeks ago, on Inside the NBA show, Charles Barkley once again took shots at ESPN. The recent deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA is making waves, especially since it’s bringing the iconic crew to ESPN. But the certain details of the agreement are still missing, and it might be a problem for Chuck.

“So, ESPN is out of it, they can’t do anything in terms of content, editorial control, it’s a TNT deal, they are just airing it. Okay, that’s great, but even so, using it on the Saturday night package, I’m sure Charles is probably livid that he has to work on a Saturday night,” Jimmy Traina, on his podcast, explained the pros and cons of this agreement. Further, he added why the 76ers legend doesn’t prefer working on a Saturday.

“Like just as something as little as that, he’s never worked a Saturday in broadcasting. They do the show on Thursdays, and when he was on this podcast, he told me that he goes to Vegas basically every couple of weeks during the football season.” A few months ago, Charles Barkley expressed his hate for how ESPN’s working schedule. “They’re not gonna work me like a dog.” 

But currently, no concrete details on how the program would be running have come to light. That’s why on Episode 526 of SI Media Podcast With Jimmy Traina, the host expressed his concerns over the transparency of the deal.

“So, it does seem like it the lack of communication to the four talent has maybe made this not as “kumbaya” as everyone wants it to be.” It’s not the first time that TNT has kept things under wrap from Charles Barkley.

That’s in the past few months we have seen him calling the executives “fools” and venomously criticizing them for failing to negotiate a new NBA media rights deal. Not to forget his total dismay with the network for their college football deal when there were dark clouds over their future.

Charles Barkley has his say on the ESPN TNT deal

By now, we know Chuck has previously called out both these networks on separate occasions for their working style. But he is happy since his future is secured alongside his ‘family’. “I don’t know what happened with this whole NBA-Inside the NBA thing. Number one, I’m just so excited for the people who work here.” But he further claimed about having no idea about the future.

“I’m looking forward to the future. I don’t know what the future entails.” So, Traina’s recent points on the podcast seem to be true. Even the longest-serving member of the Inside show shared his two cents on the deal.

“We don’t know exactly anything, what shape this is going to take right now.” Ernie Johnson continued on The Steam Room podcast a few weeks ago. “There are a lot of questions that need to be answered but we are glad that we are…”

That’s when Charles Barkley interjected and completed the sentence: “keeping people employed.” Even the fans are excited that the show is continuing, but Traina’s words mean that the expectations should be in check.