Charles Barkley has once again demonstrated his unwavering loyalty and commitment to his colleagues, proving that he’s more than just a basketball legend—he’s a true team player.
On Wednesday, August 14, Barkley made headlines when he revealed on the Dan Le Batard Show podcast that he had turned down offers worth at least $100 million to remain with Turner Sports, prioritizing the job security of his TNT colleagues over personal financial gain.
The 61-year-old NBA Hall of Famer explained that his decision to stay with Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports division was driven by his desire to ensure that the people he works with at Turner could keep their jobs, especially after TNT was excluded from the NBA’s new 11-year media rights deal. “The No. 1 thing for me is my people from Turner get to keep their jobs for at least another year,” Barkley told host Dan Le Batard. “That’s all I was concerned with.”
Despite the new media rights deal paving the way for his potential exit, Barkley expressed his commitment to TNT, where he has been a beloved commentator for years. “I want to remain with TNT,” Barkley said, while acknowledging the flattering offers he received from other networks. “It was 100% a great feeling to get offers from outside networks. I want to thank all of those networks for reaching out to me. It was really humbling and cool, to be honest with you. Even though they were throwing crazy numbers, like damn, but as long as I got my people safe at TNT, man, I feel really good.”
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With his signature humor, Barkley quipped about the potential challenges he might have faced had he accepted one of the lucrative offers. “Like I say, they’re going to pay me to go and talk about nothing,” he joked. “I probably would’ve had to do an honest day’s work if I went to one of those other networks.”
In 2022, Barkley signed a 10-year deal with TNT Sports, where he has become a cornerstone of the award-winning shows NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA. Alongside Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal, Barkley has helped make Inside the NBA one of the most popular and respected sports shows on television.
However, the future of TNT’s NBA coverage is now in question. In late July, TNT Sports lost its NBA media rights after the league declined Warner Bros. Discovery’s $1.8 billion per year offer, which matched a competing bid from Amazon. As a result, the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season will be the last one broadcast on TNT, marking the end of an era.
The NBA’s new 11-year deal with ESPN’s parent company, The Walt Disney Company, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video is expected to generate a staggering $76 billion, and will begin in the 2025-26 season.
In response to the loss of its NBA rights, TNT Sports indicated that it would be pursuing “legal action,” according to Sports Illustrated. The NBA, for its part, expressed gratitude for Turner Sports’ decades of coverage. “We are grateful to Turner Sports for its award-winning coverage of the NBA,” the league said in a statement, according to USA Today. “(We) look forward to another season of the NBA on TNT.”
Barkley, too, voiced his disappointment with the new deal in a statement he shared on Instagram on July 26. “It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks,” Barkley wrote. “I just want to thank everyone who has been at Turner for the last 24 years. They are the best people and the most talented, and they deserve better. I also want to thank the NBA and its fans—the best fans in sports. We’re going to give you everything we have next season.”
As the 2024-25 NBA season approaches, it will be bittersweet for Barkley and his colleagues at TNT. But if one thing is clear, it’s that Barkley’s loyalty to his team and his dedication to the fans will continue to be as strong as ever.
