Dan Patrick: “How did we come up with this decision -- we’re not retiring, we’re staying at TNT after this NBA season?”
Charles Barkley: “I told you TNT had to come meet with me. They flew to Philly last week and I said ‘what’s the deal?’... And they say ‘hey, we’re going to keep doing the show’, and I’m like ‘WHAT??’... And they’re like ‘We’re going to keep doing the show.’”
DP: “What does that mean?”
Barkley: “That's what I said! [laughing] I said ‘ya’ll know my number one priority is to keep people working at Turner.’ That’s always been my number one priority. They say they gonna keep doing the show and I said I’ll take a pay cut. They said that wasn’t necessary, and they said we’re going to continue doing the show. I don’t have any idea what that means. I think they’re going to try to figure it out. We won’t have the NBA, so I think they’re going to try to figure it out. My number one concern has always been the people of Turner. Even if we do something, a lot of people at Turner are going to keep their job. I have zero idea what we’re going to do.”
DP: “Is this going to be a nightly sports show for you guys? You don’t have the NBA but are you creating your own Sportscenter type show?”
Barkley: “Well, first of all, I don’t think we’re gonna work every night! [laughing] That’s not gonna happen! But I truly believe they want to keep people employed at Turner, and I think we’re gonna have to try to figure it out as we go. They couldn’t give me any concrete plans because they don’t have any concrete plans.”
DP: “Could you have gotten out of your contract?”
Barkley: “Once they told me they were going to keep people employed at Turner, I was good to go. That’s been my only concern. When I said I wanted to ‘retire’, it’s because I didn’t want to go work for another network. I didn’t want to go through the hassle of breaking in another crew and going to another network. When they flew up last week I was totally shocked when they said 'no, we’re going to keep the show going.’ And I’m like ‘what are we going to do??’... And they’re like ‘we will figure it out in a year and a half’... The reason I’m staying at TNT so people can keep their jobs. That does not mean I’m gonna stay there forever, I can promise you that. That’s not gonna happen. I’m just happy a lot of people at Turner are going to keep their jobs.”
Watch Charles Barkley join The Dan Patrick Show and proclaim that he’s not retiring from NBA broadcasting, and shockingly tells Dan that ‘Inside the NBA’ will continue past next season despite TNT set to lose their broadcasting rights with the NBA after the 2024/2025 season.
Check out the segment above as Barkley details how TNT convinced Barkley to remain with the network, and explains how a future 'Inside the NBA' show would work on without Turner having an actual NBA license.
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