Lately, no less than Charles Barkley has left his future with TNT in doubt. That's because the NBA's future with TNT is also even more in doubt.
Well, it seems like Barkley and TNT have come to some sort of arrangement, as the parties released a joint statement on Tuesday. Barkley indicated he will remain with TNT — whether the network keeps the NBA or not. (For the record, a return of the NBA on TNT beyond this season is highly unlikely.)
This comes just a day after Barkley left his future with the network very much in doubt.
Full Charles Barkley statement about staying with @NBAonTNT … whether or not the network has NBA games beyond the 2024-25 season: https://t.co/lCh3G5BF9D pic.twitter.com/o9XRWYQVxB
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 6, 2024
He told Andrew Marchand of The Athletic that he will either remain with TNT Sports on his 10-year, $210 million contract or he will listen to offers from the others (along with contemplating retirement).
Barkley, 61, is in the third year of his TNT deal. He is perhaps the most notable face on the TNT studio show Inside the NBA, along with Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and host Ernie Johnson.
"My deal is 10 years, $210 million," Barkley told Marchand. "Turner has to come to me ASAP and they have to guarantee my whole thing or they can offer me a pay cut, which there is no chance of that happening and I'll be (a) free agent.
"My thing was, 'Wait, y'all f— up, I didn't f— up, why do I have to take a pay cut?"
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT, is suing the NBA after the NBA announced it would not honor TNT's right to match. TNT has attempted to match Amazon's portion of the league's new 11-year media rights deal, reportedly worth about $77 billion.
"I wouldn't want them to sue," Barkley said. "The NBA clearly wanted to break up with us. I don't want to be in a relationship where I have to sue somebody to be in it. That makes zero sense.
"If you have to sue somebody to stay in a relationship, do you think that is a healthy relationship?"
He added that he doesn't really see a place for TNT in the current media landscape.
"It's going to all go to streaming in 11 years," Barkley said. "I think this is just a cash grab, but they needed streaming because in 11 years nobody's going to be able to afford these rights but streaming.
"They're kind of getting their cake and eating it, too. They got ESPN and NBC and they got streaming."
(This article originally appeared on Hoops Wire and was republished with permission.)
