With Shaquille O’Neal and Co’s Hopeful TNT Fate, Will Charles Barkley Backtrack on Retirement Decision?

The NBA media rights situation had a new plot twist this week. ESPN, Amazon, and NBC were a step away from finalizing a combined $76 billion arrangement with the league’s board of governors. That’s when TNT sent new paperwork to the NBA office. In a statement, TNT Sports announced it will exercise its existing deal’s matching rights to keep the NBA on TNT. It’s an expensive bid to take on Amazon’s 11-year deal with an estimated $1.8 billion annual fee. Yet it gives fans some assurance that Inside the NBA would continue. But would it go on with the original quartet? Charles Barkley announced he’s retiring after the 2024-25 season and so far has stuck to his decision when questioned about it.

That was before TNT was preparing for a potential legal battle to retain the NBA. Could this change Sir Charles’ mind? Cross your fingers and toes that Barkley’s tendency to cancel retirement works this time too.

Can TNT keep the NBA and Charles Barkley?

A couple of days before TNT’s Hail Mary move, Chuck was on Takeoff with John Clark. The Philly media personality is like all of us and asked if the 76ers legend would put off retirement to join another network like NBC. He kept it vague that he wouldn’t mind working with NBC chairman and former TNT exec, Mark Lazarus again. We’ve all seen how he was disappointed in TNT’s current chief executive, David Zaslav, for downplaying the NBA media rights situation and blamed him for mishandling the negotiations.

Yet he told Clark, “The main reason I was talking about next year being my last year, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to work for another network. It’ll be twenty-five years that I’ve been working with Turner, and I love everyone at Turner. At this age, to go over and start over, I don’t know if I want to do that.”

When he announced his retirement during the NBA Finals and several times after that, Charles Barkley was adamant that he would retire as a TNT analyst. And why not? Contrary to his NBA career with three teams, Chuck joined TNT in 2000 immediately after retiring. He’s had sporadic appearances on other sports networks but he’s stayed committed to Turner for the most part. From his recent tirades, it’s more than obvious he’s formed unbreakable bonds with the Inside the NBA personalities and staff. So he wants to end his broadcast career with them. He’s sentimental that way. That’s why we cling to the hope that he’d stay longer for the Inside family and fans.

There was a time, though, when he nearly considered another network. The Inside Guys’ contract was up in 2022 when LIV Golf attempted to poach him with a lucrative offer. That was the same year Zaslav said that Turner and WBD “don’t have to have the NBA.”

Contrary to that sentiment, TNT gave Chuck an offer he couldn’t refuse – a $10 million salary for 10 years, making it a $100 million contract. Barkley turned down LIV and remained at TNT only a year later to hint that he’d not see the end of his contract.

In the last few months, Barkley went on a tirade against the bosses for not doing enough to preserve the jobs at TNT. He didn’t bring up retirement then. There were jokes about needing more money for his toddler grandkids to go through college. Occasionally he joked about working at NBC or ESPN if Ernie, Kenny, and Shaq came along. Briefly, he even toyed with the idea of continuing Inside the NBA as a producer independent of Turner.

It changed with his declaration to retire, all the while hoping TNT saves the jobs at Inside. Turner’s recent move, according to league insiders, is too little too late. With very low chances, the possibility of them changing Chuck’s mind feels slim.

Chuck contradicts himself

15 years into sportscasting, four alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Barkley had dropped the retirement bomb. He claimed he’d be foolish to work at 60 then before proceeding to renew his contract until 2022. He raised the upper limit saying he didn’t want to work at 70. Barkley will be 62 in 2025 and the sports media industry is collectively trying to Jedi mind trick him into working till he’s 70.

Previously, Barkley was on a campaign with Shaq to bring in endorsements and investors to keep their show going. But TNT’s war room kept its analysts, staff, and viewers in the dark about what it was doing. That provoked Chuck to defy gag orders and speak to the media. Some would like to think that it was Chuck’s retirement announcement that spurred them to risk a legal battle with the trillion-dollar worth Amazon.

As he did in 2015 and 2022, fans are hoping Charles Barkley changes his mind. Because he does say often that he’d love to keep working with the same crew. But in his mind, Barkley has accepted that TNT has lost and there’s no going back from that.

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.