Why is NBA icon Charles Barkley retiring from TV? What you need to know

The NBA has been negotiating its next broadcast rights deals, with Disney (ESPN), NBC, Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) reportedly in competition. New deals will begin in the 2025-26 season, and Barkley – a multiple Sports Emmy-award winner – said he isn’t interested in moving to other networks. He began with TNT in 2000, the year he retired following 16 seasons in the NBA.

“I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” Barkley said on NBA TV. “But I have made the decision that, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me. My heart is full with joy and gratitude.”

The changes are likely to affect Barkley’s wealth; he has openly spoken about his gambling addiction. We break down his career changes and why basketball fans are concerned.

What’s going to happen to Inside the NBA?

It has been widely reported that the NBA is about to close an 11-year deal with NBC. The network TNT currently produces the long-standing show Inside the NBA. The network move would mean Barkley – who is a host on the show, along with Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith – would be left without work.

Per the LA Times, Barkley made a glib comment about updating his LinkedIn profile in preparation for a job search. But he’s not all jokes: in May, in an interview with The New York Times, he spoke about how the lack of clarity around the TV deals seemed to be unfairly impacting other employees’ lives: “It’s people’s lives. Not my life. Not Ernie’s life. Not Kenny’s life. Not Shaq’s life. But all the people who work here. We probably have 100 people who do work on the show. So they’re, like, real people.”

Why is his talk show King Charles ending too?

What did Charles Barkley say about Donald Trump?

According to USA Today, Barkley made his statement after Trump claimed at the Black Conservative Federation gala that his indictments were increasing his support among Black voters. Barkley later said he took umbrage with how Trump appeared to be comparing his criminal cases to the plight of Black people, per CNN.

Charles Barkley’s gambling addiction

The former NBA MVP has an estimated net worth of US$60 million, per Celebrity Net Worth – but his financial status hasn’t always been so flush as he battled a gambling addiction. The TNT analyst has always been open about his love of gambling, often discussing his bets on air, per USA Today.

In an interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Barkley admitted to having lost around US$25 million gambling over the years. He also revealed he once quit the vice for two years as it was “getting out of hand” – he would frequently insist on continuing to play until he could rack up at least US$1 million in winnings for the evening. “No matter how good it feels winning, when you lose, it just f***ng sucks,” he added.

Charles Barkley’s basketball career

Barkley may be known for his outspoken opinions now, but in a previous life he was known as one of basketball’s “greatest characters”. According to Hoophall, Barkley was considered one of the game’s best rebounders and was the shortest player in NBA history to dominate the league in rebounding in the 1986-87 season.

Who’s going to fill Charles Barkley’s shoes on TV?

If this really is the end of the TV road for Barkley, he had recommendations on who could potentially fill his analyst chair one day.

“I wanted to tell my NBA TV and TNT family that I’m not going to another network, but I’m going to pass the baton to either Jamal Crawford or Vince Carter or you, Steve [Smith],” Barkley said.

“But next year, I’m going to just retire after 25 years, and I just wanted to say thank you. And I wanted y’all to hear it from me first.”

Additional reporting by Reuters