Shocking TNT News: Charles Barkley Reveals Uncertain Future of ‘Inside the NBA’!

This week on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Charles Barkley opened up about various subjects such as Olympic basketball, the Boston Celtics, the WNBA including Caitlin Clark, and his career plans at TNT.

Initially, Barkley had declared his intention to retire after the 2024-2025 season, coinciding with Turner’s last season holding NBA broadcasting rights. However, Barkley later reversed his decision, choosing to forgo over $100 million to remain with TNT under a 10-year agreement following the network’s decision to continue Inside the NBA beyond their NBA contract.

As the podcast neared its conclusion, Barkley, still intrigued by the idea of retirement, admitted to Simmons that he had “absolutely no clue what we’re going to do.” He illustrated that Turner is equally in the dark.

“They have no clue either,” Barkley shared. “So here I am, sitting in this meeting in Philly, and they’re like, we want to keep the show going. I’m thinking, what do you mean? They say, we want to keep all of you together. I could get behind that because I want my friends to retain their jobs. Then I ask, what are we going to do? We haven’t figured that out yet. And I’m like, what? You mean, we won’t even have basketball. What the hell are we supposed to do? It’s fascinating. We’ve got another year with the NBA, then it’s gone. They want to continue the show for at least another year, but without basketball, what are we going to talk about? We’re going to pay for highlights!“

Barkley also seized the opportunity to criticize the company, claiming they “messed up” the negotiations, echoing sentiments he recently expressed to Dan Patrick in a more restrained manner.

During the conversation, Simmons queried why another NBA broadcast partner wouldn’t simply take over Inside the NBA. Barkley doubted Ernie Johnson would leave Atlanta, prompting Simmons to suggest they could continue the show in Atlanta using the existing setup.

Barkley on the future of Inside the NBA pt2 pic.twitter.com/4zZrVfS2Zd

— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) September 5, 2024

“Hey, everything’s up in the air. Bill, as I mentioned earlier, we have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen after this year. None at all.”

Whether Ernie Johnson decides to leave Turner and TNT for another network is still uncertain, and with all the confusion surrounding the show’s future, it’s anybody’s guess what will become of the Inside the NBA team after the next basketball season concludes.