Charles Barkley calls TNT leaders ‘clowns,’ suggests his production company could take over ‘Inside The NBA’
Charles Barkley calls TNT leaders ‘clowns,’ suggests his production company could take over ‘Inside The NBA’
Charles Barkley is confused, morose and, most of all, angry that TNT is on the verge of losing its rights to the NBA, and the ability to do his beloved “Inside the NBA” show with the network.
It was reported Tuesday that the NBA is on the verge of finalizing its new media rights deals with Disney/ESPN, NBC and Amazon, which would leave TNT without NBA games for the first time in more than two decades. Its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery can reportedly match NBC’s package, but seems unlikely to do so.
It was in that context Barkley appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” and laid into the leadership that is letting the NBA walk out the door. He said that morale is understandably low at TNT and complained that WBD opted to acquire rights to College Football Playoff games instead:
Inside the NBA” remains one of the most popular studio shows in all of sports, with Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal providing blunt analysis and more laughs than any of its competitors.
Barkley has said in the past that his contract allows him to become a free agent if TNT loses its NBA rights, but he suggested to Patrick that he could take it a step forward and take over the whole show through his production company. Again, he had a choice word for his bosses, plus an esoteric wine analogy:
“I’ve talked to the guys about everybody signing with my production company, because I have my own production company, and I would love to do that if we lose it. Actually, somebody suggested that to me, to be honest with you, on the internet. Why don’t Charles Barkley sign these three guys, four guys total, it’s his production company, and sell it? I’m like, that’s a great idea. But like I said, we’re just sitting back, waiting on these people to figure out what they’re going to do.
“My two favorite wines are Inglenook and Opus. These clowns I work for, they’ve turned us into Ripple and Boone’s Farm and Thunderbird.”
