Charles Barkley says he's retiring from TV after 2024-25

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Charles Barkley says he's retiring from TV after 2024-25​

Charles Barkley says next season will be his final one on TV. Barkley, part of the highly popular, award-winning "Inside the NBA" studio show, said Friday night that the 2024-25 season will be his last with TNT and that he won't be joining any other network beyond that either. "I ain't going nowhere other than TNT," Barkley, 61, said on NBATV after the Dallas Mavericks' Game 4 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night. "I hope the NBA stays with TNT, but for me personally, I wanted you guys to hear it from me ... 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]," 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." Ahead of the NBA Finals, commissioner Adam Silver called the media rights process "incredibly complex" based on the technology involved (broadcast, cable and streaming), the competing bidders and a timeline stretching into an unpredictable future. "We're looking forward to another fantastic NBA on TNT season and further discussion of our future plans with him," TNT Sports said in a statement.

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Charles Barkley leaves door open to post-TNT job options​

The most interesting potential free agent target in the NBA might be a 61-year-old who retired nearly 25 years ago. TNT Sports analyst Charles Barkley told The Athletic on Friday tthat he would listen to NBA partners ESPN/Disney, NBC and Amazon if the remainder of his current 10-year contract with the cable network is not honored. TNT Sports lost out on the NBA in the league's recently announced 11-year, $76 billion rights agreement. "My deal is 10 years, $210 million," Barkley told The Athletic. "[TNT Sports] 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.

During the NBA Finals, with it a known possibility that TNT Sports might lose its media rights, Barkley said he would retire if he found himself out of a job. He still has seven years remaining on his deal. Barkley has been a part of TNT Sports' flagship "Inside the NBA" show since 2000 and is part of a primary four-man crew along with host Ernie Johnson and fellow former NBA players Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal. Barkley said that retirement is still the likely option after TNT's upcoming final season broadcasting the NBA but that he would be "stupid" not to listen to offers from other networks.

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Charles Barkley won't retire, to stay with TNT even if no NBA​

Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports through the remainder of his contract. The Hall of Fame player announced Tuesday that he will not retire next season, reversing the announcement he made in June during the NBA Finals. Barkley said at the time that the 2024-25 season would be his last on television no matter what eventually happened with the NBA's media deal negotiations. He signed a 10-year contract extension with TNT Sports in 2022. Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, has sued the NBA in New York state court after the league did not accept the company's matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.

ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video were expected to try to court Barkley before Tuesday's announcement. "Inside the NBA" host Ernie Johnson has also said he intends to remain with TNT, but the futures of Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith remain uncertain. Barkley joined TNT in 2000 and has been a part of the iconic "Inside the NBA" show, which has won 21 Sports Emmy Awards and has been a model for studio shows. Barkley took home his fifth Sports Emmy for Outstanding Studio Analyst in May. What Barkley's future looks like if TNT does not have the NBA remains to be seen. Turner has had an NBA package since 1984, and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988.

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