People thought Charles Barkley announcing his retirement was a ruse. And now with each passing day, Chuck seems to hit the nail in the coffin with that announcement. Even his close associate, Kenny ‘The Jet‘ Smith, who had spent the same 24 years with him at Turner didn’t believe in the charade. However, in another interview just a day ago, the Philadelphia 76ers legend said, “At this age, to go over and start over, I don’t know if I want to do that.” And now speaking with The Insiders on NFL Network, Charles Barkley shared the emotional moment about leaving his Turner family.

“I am going to miss watching basketball what like every day. Going in the studio and watching games,” Chuck told Ian Rapoport. Barkley last year had stated that he didn’t enjoy watching the NBA much anymore. He even urged viewers not to watch three of the Eastern Conference first round series last year. So with no NBA pre-show for him to do now, we can expect the Chuckster to not be involved with basketball.

Earlier, the Chuckster called the executives at WBD “clowns” and “fools” for not being able to provide any clarity for the future. But the future seemingly is hanging by a thread. According to reports, TNT could match Amazon’s $1.8B annual bid, but Barkley feels otherwise.

“Next year, I think we have lost the deal, to be honest. I don’t know what they are waiting on. I think 25 years in one place then to start over at another place with random strangers at my age. I’ll be 62 man.” Not being thrilled to join any network at the moment, Charles had an exit clause in his contract for such uncertain situations. 

Even though he could become a free agent, Barkley would rather enjoy golfing or fishing. Currently, the 11x All-Star is improving his golfing skills and even played his best round ever at the 2024 American Century Celebrity Golf Championship. But Chuck is grateful for his time on and off the court and expressed it to co-hosts Rapoport and Steve Wyche. 

Charles Barkley changes his focus from Bucket to Birdie

“I have had a great run, basketball has given me every single thing in my life. Played in the NBA for 15 years, I have been on TV for 24 years. I have had a great run but I’m very realistic about life,” Barkley said. Stating that he is a grandfather now and would like to spend time with his grandchildren and even gave a shoutout to them. 

Amidst all the drama surrounding Chuck leaving, Kenny Smith refused to believe it. “He never called me. He never told me.” Smith added further, “He still hasn’t called me and told me, ‘Kenny, I’m retiring.'” So The Jet has been waiting for the call from Barkley for the past few weeks.

In the end, Chuck even tried to quote a great dialogue about retiring from the movie American Gangster. He said, ” You know quitting on top ain’t the same as quitting.” The correct phrase in the movie was  “Quitting while you’re ahead is not the same as quitting.” With him getting better at golf, just like his former best friend Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley could spend the majority of the days at the course instead of the studio.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.