Is Charles Barkley Beefing With Kendrick Perkins and Other Analysts to Boost His Potential Move to ESPN?

Charles Barkley has not been a huge fan of Kendrick Perkins lately. Perkins shared that Barkley doesn’t watch NBA games regularly and that pulled a nerve for the Philadelphia 76ers legend. Ever since he has called out Perkins on several occasions. On top of this, he also took an open jab at all the other analysts of the NBA, for criticizing coaches such as Darvin Ham and Frank Vogel for their teams’ failure. All of this looks like his true opinion, but it could also be a calculated move from Barkley to secure his future. 

Barkley shared on Inside the NBA yesterday, “Part of our job, we watch all the games, we watch all the talk shows. You know, all these people on television, they are cowards. They want the players to like them. They don’t want to do their job, which is telling the truth.” He did not stop here and added a few brash words.

Barkley continued, “For all you punks, idiots, and Jacka **** on other networks, who want to be media and who want all the players to like y’all, do your damn job. The Lakers suck and the Suns suck because of the players.” Barkley is highlighting a few points here. He believes that the other analysts are not brave enough to call out the players, which he always does. He also wants all of them to speak the truth.

Why did Barkley want to highlight the above two points? Is he putting someone on notice? Well, there is a good chance for it. Reports have revealed that Turner Sports is unlikely to retain its broadcasting rights for the NBA next year. In case TNT does not return for the upcoming season, a few other options for Barkley would be ESPN and Prime Video. So by calling out the other analysts, Barkley is pointing out the qualities that he holds, that others don’t. 

Considering his experience in the broadcasting world, several media houses like ESPN would try their best to rope in Barkley, if Turner Sports quit the run. Could this be the reason why he is beefing with all the analysts? We are not sure about that, but he would definitely be open to moving to another media house. 

He shared on ESPN Cleveland, “I just signed a 10-year deal two years ago, but one of the things I did, I put an opt-out after a couple of years cause I wanted to make sure I covered my a** when it comes to this situation if I wanted to go to Amazon .” 

Is Barkley purposefully beefing with Kendrick Perkins? 

Kendrick Perkins shared about Barkley and Shaq, “It’s obvious that they don’t watch basketball. I’m serious, they can’t watch basketball on a consistent basis.” This pissed Barkley off, who hilariously vented out his frustration on Perkins by throwing a few jabs at a punching bag with the Celtics veteran’s photo on it. He also addressed this in a conversation with NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, “There’s nobody in the world, who watches more basketball than me”, once again highlighting his qualities as an analyst. 

He also added, “I was watching 2-3 college basketball matches a day. March Madness really sucks, cause I’m watching games all day long. So that’s the whole thing bothering me.” Barkley covered the NCAA for almost a month from March to April. He returned to the NBA and is now covering playoff games every day. All the above makes him a key analyst to look out for next season, in case TNT does not return. So, it’s safe to say that this beef he holds with the other analysts might come in handy soon!