Charles Barkley Considers Deals if TNT Defaults on Contract

Charles Barkley will either stay with TNT Sports on his 10-year, $210 million contract or he will listen to offers from ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video as he reconsiders his retirement, he said The Athletics on Friday.

“My deal is 10 years, $210 million,” Barkley said in a phone interview. “Turner has to come to me as soon as possible and they have to guarantee my entire deal or they can offer me a pay cut, which is not in the cards and I become a free agent.

“I thought, ‘Wait a minute, you guys messed up, I didn’t mess up, so why should I take a pay cut?’”

Barkley is in the third year of his contract.

The NBA this week announced new deals worth a total of $77 billion over 11 years with incumbent ESPN and newcomers NBC and Amazon. In the process, the NBA rejected TNT Sports’ matching rights. TNT Sports filed a lawsuit against the league in hopes of picking up Amazon’s deal, it announced Friday.

“I wouldn’t want them to sue us,” Barkley said. “The NBA clearly wanted to break up with us. I don’t want to be in a relationship where I have to sue someone to stay in it. That doesn’t make sense.

“If you have to sue someone to stay in a relationship, do you think that’s a healthy relationship?”

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— TNT Sports USA PR (@TNTSportsUS) July 26, 2024

Earlier on Friday, Barkley told Bleacher Report that he did not believe the NBA wanted to make a deal with TNT Sports, which has had a nearly four-decade relationship with the league.

“In 11 years, it’s all going to be streaming,” Barkley said The Athletics“I think this is just a way to make money, but they needed streaming because in 11 years no one will be able to afford these rights except streaming.

“They kind of get their cake and eat it too. They have ESPN and NBC and they have streaming.”

During the NBA Finals, Barkley, 61, said he planned to retire. He hasn’t completely backed down from those statements, but his ears will be open if he doesn’t get paid in full by TNT Sports.

Barkley said he has spoken to ESPN, NBC and Amazon in recent months.

“Right now I’m planning on retiring,” Barkley said. “I’m not trying to do anything.”

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Barkley said he would be “stupid” not to listen and informed the entities of his plans, but he wanted them to get their affairs in order.

“But from a compensation standpoint, I said, ‘I’m going to sit down and see what you all do going forward,'” Barkley said. “I’ve been honest with all the companies.”

Barkely said he’s still debating whether to leave his entire “Inside the NBA” team, including anchor Ernie Johnson and co-analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, plus the TNT behind-the-scenes people he adores. He expects next year, the final season, to be special.

“We’re going out with a bang,” Barkley said.

Barkley said Johnson will not move to a new network and he has not yet delved into O’Neal and Smith’s plans. The Athletics was told by sources familiar with the other networks’ plans that they could offer Barkley and the entire crew, including Johnson, the opportunity to stay in Atlanta and do the same show.

“Everything is still open,” Barkley said.

Barkley reiterated that the people he really feels sorry for in this whole situation are the ones who aren’t making millions behind the scenes.

“I feel bad for the people I work with,” Barkley said. “A lot of good people are going to lose their jobs. I have to give TNT credit, they tried everything to keep the relationship going, but the NBA wanted to move on. It’s as simple as that.”

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(Photo: Steven Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images)