CNN
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Charles Barkley, the basketball Hall of Famer whose second career as a blunt, no-BS commentator on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” may have eclipsed the heights he reached as superstar player, announced Friday that next year will be his last on TV.
“I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT. But I have made the decision that no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television,” Barkley said on NBATV, after the Dallas Mavericks’ Game 4 victory over the Boston Celtics. “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.”
02:19 – Source: CNN
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Barkley’s exit coincides with Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD), CNN’s parent company, media rights deal with the NBA expiring after next season. WBD could renew its deal, but NBC and Amazon have reportedly outbid WBD, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A new agreement on which networks or platforms might get NBA rights, including a separate package that will likely continue at ESPN, will likely being announced in the coming weeks.
“I hope the NBA stays with TNT, but for me personally, I wanted you guys to hear it from me,” Barkley continued. “I wanted to tell my NBATV 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).”
“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.”
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
From left: center fielder Dexter Fowler of the St. Louis Cardinals joins TNT’s Inside the NBA team, Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson Jr., Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley during a live telecast of “NBA on TNT” at CES 2017 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 5, 2017.
Following a Hall of Fame career as a player, Barkley joined as an analyst on TNT’s award-winning studio show “Inside the NBA,” in 2000.
In his nearly two-and-a-half decades with the network, Barkley has been awarded four Sports Emmys and has been inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
While the future of the NBA on TNT remains uncertain, WBD announced Tuesday a 10-year deal to become the new US home for the French Open tennis tournament beginning in 2025.
Under the “new expansive deal,” all roughly 900 matches will air live on the streaming platform Max, with featured matches on TNT and TBS and a new whip-around show on truTV. WBD already has an existing relationship with Roland-Garros since it began broadcasting the tennis tournament across Europe on Eurosport since 1989.
