Charles Barkley Reneges On Television Retirement: “I’m Going To Give My All”

Charles Barkley reveals plans to reverse his decision to retire. On Thursday (Aug. 8), he spoke with Dan Patrick sharing the reasoning behind his decision to remain on board at Inside the NBA working as a studio analyst for TNT.

Charles Barkley Says Next NBA Season Is His "Last Year On Television"

“TNT, I told them they had to come meet with me. They flew to Philly last week, and I said, ‘What’s the deal?’ And they said, ‘Hey we’re going to keep doing the show.’ And I’m like ‘What? And they’re like, ‘We’re going to keep doing the show.'”

“What does that mean?” questions Patrick.

Barkley continues, “That’s what I said,” adding, “I said, ‘Hey y’all know my number one priority is to keep people working at Turner.’ That’s always been my number one priority… They said they gon’ keep doing the show. And I said I’ll take a pay cut and they said that’s not necessary.”

Barkley elaborated similar sentiments on Wednesday (Aug. 7) in a statement per Yahoo Sports that reads as follows:

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“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. 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.”

According to the outlet last month, the NBA announced that TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, did not match Amazon Prime’s portion of the new media rights deal, confirming renewed NBA coverage on ESPN, as well as a return to NBC and additional games streaming on Amazon.

The 61-year-old initially announced his retirement in June, saying other networks had approached him for on-screen deals.

“I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is gonna be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family,” he said at the time.

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