TNT
Charles Barkley is letting his feelings about Warner Bros. Discovery (and its network TNT) losing its NBA rights known, as the Hall of Famer absolutely ripped WBD execs during a Thursday morning appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.
After it was reported on Wednesday, May 22 that the NBA was formalizing contracts with Disney, NBC, and Prime Video, Barkley went on The Dan Patrick Show and proclaimed that “morale sucks” at Inside The NBA and that “the people I work with screwed this up so badly.”
Charles Barkley says morale sucks amid the uncertainty of "Inside the NBA" moving forward. And discusses the possibility of hiring the crew to his production company, continuing to do the show, and selling it. pic.twitter.com/gLoiKm7SM3
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 23, 2024
Those people that Barkley is referring to are Warner Bros. Discovery executives — including embattled CEO David Zaslav — who he believes “pissed off” NBA commissioner Adam Silver by declaring that they didn’t need the NBA’s rights.
The beloved NBA analyst also floated the idea of hiring Inside The NBA hosts Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith to his own production company to create a new show and then sell the rights to another network.
Barkley also touched on the recent news that TNT had agreed to a deal with ESPN to sublicense college football games on the network.
Charles Barkley also said WBD never should have told Wall Street they didn't 'need' the NBA. That just pisssed off Adam Silver, he said.
The Chuckster also wondered why TNT is buying CFP games — instead of using that money to retain the NBA?
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) May 23, 2024
If Warner Bros. Discovery does lose the rights to Inside The NBA then the upcoming 2024/25 season will be its last on the air, meaning basketball fans could be gifted an unshackled version of Barkley the likes of which they’ve never seen before.
The Inside The NBA crew is hosting its final season series as the Dallas Mavericks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavs edged a Game 1 road win over the Wolves on Wednesday night by a score of 108-105.
Inside The NBA has been on the air since 1989, with Johnson joining in 1990, Smith in 1998, Barkley in 2000, and Shaq in 2011.