"Our bosses did a s**tty job" - Charles Barkley drops unfiltered take on TNT blindsiding Inside the NBA crew amid ESPN takeover rumors

NBA: Finals-Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks - Source: Imagn
Charles Barkley rips TNT regarding the fate of Inside the NBA (Image Source: IMAGN)

Former NBA star Charles Barkley revealed behind-the-scenes events after TNT lost the NBA rights last year. Since he retired from the NBA, Barkley has been part of TNT's hit show, "Inside the NBA." Together with Ernie Johnson, Kenny "The Jet" Smith and Shaquille O'Neal, fans loved watching basketball games that were covered by the network.

Ad

There has been a significant change in how the show will be run. After 36 years, TNT won't feature NBA games. The league secured a new 11-year TV deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video that will start from the 2025-26 season.

Initially, this put the hit show in a tough situation. The negotiations led to the show not being canceled and it will continue on ESPN. On Monday's episode of "Pardon My Take" podcast, Barkley did not hold back on his thoughts about how TNT handled the situation.

Ad
"I thought TNT, our bosses, did a sh**tty job. They did an awful job of keeping us abreast," Barkley said.

Explore the NBA Draft 2024 with our free NBA Mock Draft Simulator & be the GM of your favorite NBA team.

The former Phoenix Suns player stated that they were watching the internet for developments during the 2025 NBA Playoffs. They didn't get any intel on their jobs from any of their superiors.

"TNT, our bosses, they sucked, plain and simple. I'm like, 'Yo, man. Just tell us. Just shoot us straight'," he added. "'Cause these are real people. We literally were playing golf during the playoffs, looking at the internet. One story said we lost it, the next story said we still in negotiation, then we lost it, we still in negotiation. TNT never came to us like grown folks.
Ad
Ad

Charles Barkley also said they found out about the ESPN-TNT deal for their show from ESPN.

"I found out that we got traded to ESPN from ESPN. I'm sitting at home on a Friday night, I get a text... from Scott Van Pelt, Brian Windhorst, Elle Duncan and Bob Myers."

Barkley didn't like how it went down, since he thought they should've heard the news from TNT.

Ad

Charles Barkley thinks the show will be interesting under ESPN

Fans rejoiced when the news about the show potentially getting canceled went the other way. Charles Barkley and the rest of the "Inside the NBA" crew will still be together under a different network.

Barkley is excited to see how it's going to work out with ESPN. He said that it's likely going to be different, which will make it an interesting show. Though, he is unsure about how things will change under a different network.

It's also been confirmed that the crew behind the camera will remain with Charles Barkley and the rest of the cast.

Phoenix Suns Fans? Check out the latest Suns depth chart, schedule, and roster updates all in one place.

Quick Links

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
down arrow icon
More
bell-icon Manage notifications