(From left) Micah Parsons, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Taylor Rooks, Charles Barkley and Wayne Gretzky speak onstage during Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2024 in New York City on May 15, 2024. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, Warner Bros. Discovery/AFP
Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports for the remainder of his contract.
The Hall of Famer announced Tuesday that he will not retire after next season, reversing an announcement he made during the NBA Finals in June.
Barkley said at the time that the 2024-25 season would be his last on television regardless of how NBA media contract negotiations ultimately play out – he signed a 10-year extension with TNT Sports in 2022.
Read: Warner will match Amazon’s offer to broadcast NBA games
TNT Sports’ parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, has sued the NBA in New York state court, alleging that the NBA did not accept its matched offer for one package of a new 11-year media rights contract starting with the 2025-26 season.
“I love my TNT Sports family and my number one priority has always been and will always be our staff and keeping everyone together for as long as possible. We have the best staff, they’re the best at what they do, and I look forward to continuing to work with them, both on the shows we have on the air now and on new shows we’ll develop together in the future. This is the only place for me,” Barkley said in a statement. “I have to say… I’m impressed and so excited by our leadership team, who have fought so hard and are so proactive in adding new properties to TNT Sports. I thank them and all of my colleagues for their continued support, and most of all, I thank our fans, and I’ll do everything I can to keep them entertained for years to come.”
ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video were expected to make moves to acquire Barkley before Tuesday’s announcement. “Inside the NBA” host Ernie Johnson has also indicated he plans to stay with TNT, but the futures of Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith are unclear.
Barkley joined TNT in 2000 and has hosted the iconic “Inside the NBA” show, which has won 21 Sports Emmy Awards and served as the model for studio programming. Barkley won his fifth Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Analyst in May.
It remains to be seen what Barkley’s future will be if TNT no longer broadcasts the NBA. Turner has had an NBA broadcast package since 1984, and games have been shown on TNT since the network launched in 1988.
Charles Barkley says next season will be his last on TV
But relations between the two companies began to become strained when Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said at an RBC investor conference in November 2022 that Turner and WBD “don’t need to have the NBA.”
TNT Sports also broadcasts the NHL and NCAA men’s basketball tournaments in partnership with CBS, and more recently the College Football Playoff, Big East basketball, NASCAR and the French Open.
“Charles is one of the most accomplished and beloved sportscasters in the history of television, and on behalf of the entire TNT Sports family, we are thrilled to share this shared commitment to showcasing Charles’ unmatched talent and continuing to entertain our fans for years to come,” TNT Sports Chairman and CEO Lewis Silberwasser said in a statement. “As we continue to expand the breadth and depth of our sports portfolio, it’s fantastic to have Charles on board on this journey to develop new content ideas and programming for our fans.”
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Berkeley co-hosted the weekly CNN talk show “King Charles” alongside “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King, but the limited series ended in April after six months.
