Charles Barkley isn’t afraid to name it as he sees it, and he did so once more after the NBA rebuffed TNT’s try and match Amazon’s bid for broadcast rights, which it has had for greater than 30 years.
“Clearly the NBA has needed to interrupt up with us from the start,” he mentioned in a press release posted on social media by Bleacher Report.
Amazon reached an 11-year settlement with the NBA and WNBA starting in 2026.
“I’m unsure TNT ever had an opportunity,” Barkley mentioned. “TNT matched the cash, however the league is aware of Amazon and these tech firms are the one ones prepared to pay for the rights once they double sooner or later. The NBA didn’t wish to piss them off.”
Barkley has been a staple of “Contained in the NBA” alongside Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neill, which is taken into account one of the best studio present in sports activities.
“It’s a tragic day when house owners and commissioners select cash over the followers. It simply sucks,” Barkley mentioned. “I simply wish to thank everybody who has been at Turner for the final 24 years. They’re one of the best folks and probably the most gifted, and so they deserve higher. I additionally wish to thank the NBA and its followers — one of the best followers in sports activities. We’re going to offer you the whole lot we’ve got subsequent season.”
TNT nonetheless expects to litigate the problem via the courts, and The Publish’s Ryan Glasspiegel speculates that it might gradual Amazon’s makes an attempt to rent expertise and manufacturing folks.
“We now have matched the Amazon supply, as we’ve got a contractual proper to do, and don’t consider the NBA can reject it,” TNT’s assertion mentioned in a fiery return assertion.
TNT’s choice to try to match the rights modified the trajectory of Barkley’s ire.
The 76ers and Suns nice had beforehand been extraordinarily important of his employer because it grew to become clear they have been unlikely to retain the proper in current months, going so far as calling his bosses “clowns.”
Barkley not too long ago introduced that subsequent season can be hellos final as a studio analyst.
“I wouldn’t really feel comfy going to work for one more community,” Barkley, 61, admitted. “It’ll be 25 years that I’ve been working with Turner, and I like all people at Turner. However at this age, to go over and begin over, I don’t know if I wish to do this.”
