As another week gets set to pass without an announcement on what is happening with the future of NBA media rights after next season, the frustration is starting to boil over with fans and personnel, especially those from TNT who appear to be on the outside looking in. While others, including Shaquille O’Neal, say they are not supposed to talk to the media, that has not stopped Charles Barkley who was the featured guest on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast.
Before diving into the future, Traina asked Barkley his thoughts about the public reaction to the possibility of the show going away if TNT does in fact lose out on continuing with the NBA. “Its been amazing,” Barkley said. “…Just in my everyday life…the response has been incredible. Obviously, we are very proud of what we have accomplished for me, 24 [years], Kenny, 27 [years], Ernie 32 [years] and I think Shaq is either 12 or 13 [years].”
As they got to the heart of the matter, Barkley continued saying a lot of the things he has repeated over the last few weeks. “The one thing that sucks is we don’t know anything. And it’s getting a little frustrating with all of the rumors.”
Barkley said he has seen what has been written and heard what has been said and that, “Every reporter is trying to break the story and they are all kind of lying.”
One of the more interesting parts of the situation of course is that if TNT were to lose the rights after next season, there is still next season that would need to be done. Traina has mentioned a few times recently that he is really interesting to see what Barkley would be like as a lame duck for a year, given how he has handled the recent media reports.
In the end, Barkly has been consistent in his concern, not for he and his on-air partner, but for the people behind the scenes. “It sucks,” he said. “I’m not too worried about me to be honest with you, I am worried about the other people who work there. Me, Kenny, Ernie and Shaq are gonna be fine, but there’s probably going to be 200 people who lose their jobs and that’s the part that really sucks.”
Traina asked Barkley if he had heard from anyone at Warner Bros. Discovery or TNT about things he has said lately, most notably on The Dan Patrick Show where he said, “My two favorite wines are Inglewood and Opus, and these clowns I work for, they’ve turned us into Ripple and Boone’s Farm and Thunderbird. We’ve got the best studio show. It’s so funny – we just won the [Sports Emmy for] ‘Best Studio Show’ – but these fools turn us from Inglenook and Opus into damn Boone’s Farm and Ripple. It’s crazy.”
“They’re not going to call me, they know better,” was Barkley’s reply to Traina.
Part of the issue is that while it has been well reported WBD has matching rights in their current agreement, what the definition of those matching rights are could be decided later on in a court room. About the matching rights, Barkley said, “Something’s going on to be honest with you because if we have the right to match, that would be a simple ‘yes we are going to match’ or ‘not we are not going to match.’ That’s the thing that probably has us disturbed the most.”
The communication or lack thereof is what really seems to have Barkley upset. “I think they have done a really shi**y job of keeping us abreast,” he said. “Just say something. We have not discussed it…just say something to let the people breathe a little bit. I can’t imagine having a family and bills because realistically you probably have to start looking for a job, you can’t wait until next year…If they would call and say ‘Kiss my ass’ I’d feel better about that than not [knowing anything].”
Barkley reiterated what many have said about Ernie Johnson probably not leaving Turner to continue with Inside the NBA on another network and that it is not something they have been talking about as a team since a lot has to happen before they really know what their options might be.
“The weird thing about it is, we don’t know what will happen to the show if we lose it, but it really doesn’t do us any good to try and make any plans until we lose the package or hear something. The limbo is the weirdest dynamic of the whole thing…We are like, let’s just wait…None of this s**t means anything because we still have to work together for another year. Being worried about something that is a year and a half away is really kind of stupid…I don’t know s**t. It’s frustrating not knowing s**t… Just make a decision. Just not knowing is probably the worst part.”
Traina asked Barkley about ESPN, NBC and Amazon and whether one of them stood out as a place he would want to work. Barkley said it is difficult to speculate since we don’t know what the different packages could look like or where a show would even be done.
In typical Barkley fashion, he did say about ESPN, “They’re not gonna work me like a dog. ESPN Radio, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, I mean hell no. I just turned 61. The notion that I’m going to be working like a dog into my mid-60’s that’s definitely not gonna happen.”
