There was never a chance Chuck was leaving television
Charles Barkley may play the buffoon on television from time to time, but don’t mistake that for reality.
Come on, now. Did you really think Charles Barkley was going to walk away from the cameras? Did you really think he’d follow through on his threat to retire if TNT lost the rights to broadcast NBA games?
If so, you may be exactly the type of person David Zaslav wants to negotiate with.
On Tuesday, Barkley and TNT reaffirmed their commitment to each other with the former putting out a lengthy statement about his future on TV per The Hollywood Reporter:
“I love my TNT Sports family. My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible. We have the most amazing people, and they are the best at what they do,” Barkley said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them both on the shows we currently have and new ones we develop together in the future. This is the only place for me. I have to say … I’ve been impressed by the leadership team who is fighting hard and have been aggressive in adding new properties to TNT Sports, which I am very excited about. I appreciate them and all of my colleagues for their continued support, and most importantly our fans. I’m going to give my all as we keep them entertained for years to come.”
Barkley has too much to say to ever put down the microphone, and that’s before you consider the massive 10-year, $210 million contract he signed with Turner in 2022.
The retirement talk was shallow when Barkley first floated it in June and didn’t get any more legitimate in the weeks that followed.
Now we know definitively: Chuck is sticking around the Atlanta studios, where there’ll be plenty of opportunities to talk college sports, NHL, golf, gambling and, as always, whatever else is on Barkley’s mind.
