Charles Barkley is already giving ESPN notes on how it is handling Inside the NBA.
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Appearing on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Barkley said he has complained to ESPN executives about how rarely the show has aired since moving over from TNT. Beginning with the 2025-26 season, ESPN and ABC are distributing Inside under an 11 year agreement.
Barkley made it clear he is not thrilled with the early rollout.
"We've complained. We've only been on ESPN four times in three months," he said, referencing co-hosts Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. "I don't like that at all."
At the same time, Barkley said he does not want to be oversaturated across every ESPN platform, joking about appearing on multiple channels and feeds. Still, he admitted he would have preferred more appearances during the first half of the season.
Inside the NBA is scheduled to air multiple times in the coming days, including Jan. 24, Jan. 28 and Jan. 31, and Barkley expects the workload to pick up as the season moves along.
He also leaned into his reputation for bluntness, joking that ESPN may eventually have to fire him for calling coworkers "idiots, punks, fools and jackasses," a move that would force the network to pay out the remainder of his contract.
The show will appear around major NBA events on ESPN and ABC, including playoff coverage and the NBA Finals, while TNT Sports continues producing the show from Atlanta.
If nothing else, Barkley is making sure the bosses hear him early.
