It is no exaggeration to say that Charles Barkley is the man who more successfully combined a professional playing career with a broadcasting career than anyone in the history of American sports.
A Hall of Famer and MVP winner, he has been named to both the Top 50 and Top 75 NBA teams of all time and is now arguably the greatest sports studio analyst of all time.
On Friday, during an NBA television appearance after Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Barkley said next year will be his last as a television announcer.
“I have no plans to go anywhere other than TNT,” Barkley said on NBA TV, “but I have made a commitment that no matter what happens, next year will be my last year on TV.”
If Barkley does indeed retire, he will rank alongside Howard Cosell and John Madden as modern-day sports commentators and American cultural icons, and his combined on-court and on-television legacy will make him one of the greatest athlete-announcers of all time, alongside Frank Giffords and Michael Strahan.
That said, will he really retire? We’ll see. Maybe.
Barkley, 61, sounded sincere in his comments Friday as he spoke about retiring for good. His previous goal was 60, but he quickly achieved that goal with Tony Romo’s 10-year contract that’s just shy of $180 million. He has seven years remaining on that deal after next season.
One thing that has changed since the deal was signed is that TNT Sports, the broadcaster of Barkley’s legendary show “Inside the NBA,” may not broadcast NBA games after next season.
The NBA is working through the legal paperwork to finalize a $76 billion, 11-year TV-rights deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has said TNT could try to match one of those offers, but the network remains hopeful the NBA will return with a smaller, fourth-game package to keep it on the air.
If TNT can somehow make some half-court shots, it seems entirely possible that Barkley might change his mind and stay with the hosts’ Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. But if they can’t, Barkley might have to reconsider what he said on Friday.
ESPN, Amazon and NBC have all expressed interest in Barkley, who said he has already spoken with all of them.
If NBC and Amazon finalize a deal, it would make sense to bring in the entire “Inside the NBA” staff, or just Barkley if the fearsome foursome isn’t available, to add instant credibility.
But what’s more likely is that ESPN won’t let Barkley say no, as the new TV deal means the network will continue to broadcast the Finals for 11 years beyond next season.
Whatever the outcome, Charles Barkley will leave behind one of the greatest combined player and announcer careers in sports history. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
A sweet deal for Barkley to call the regular season opener and the playoffs would be a win-win for everyone: Barkley wouldn’t have to work as hard and he’d still be able to make millions while appearing on ESPN’s studio shows and hyping up the team’s biggest games of the season, including the Finals.
Meanwhile, TNT has a deal with Barkley to have him on their March Madness coverage of the NCAA Tournament, for example, and even if Barkley hadn’t announced it, running off to his next employer might not have been as refreshing as saying “I want to go” because Barkley is so valuable to TNT and has harshly criticized Zaslav for potentially screwing up in NBA negotiations.
“We look forward to another great NBA season on TNT and to further discussions with (Barkley) about future plans,” TNT Sports said in a statement Saturday.
And Barkley’s departure is too much to handle, because what is he going to do? He’s a talkative guy. He’s the same on and off the air, and he treats his former best friend Michael Jordan the same way he treats you and me. That’s Barkley’s secret: unfiltered honesty. He seems ready to talk to anyone, anything, at any time.
Last month on ESPN Cleveland, he said he was open to discussing other offers, but now he says he’s changed his mind.
Barkley may be gone, but he’ll still keep talking, and I don’t see why he wouldn’t want to keep making millions more.
Going deeper
The president of TNT Sports said they don’t need the NBA, but the answer is yet to be revealed.
(Photo of Charles Barkley at the NBA Finals: Stacey Revere/Getty Images)
