Sports broadcaster Charles Barkley, known for his quick and unfiltered humor in reporting and commenting, recently expressed how he sees the upcoming changes in his basketball commentary program, “Inside The NBA”.
Earlier this year, rumors of “Inside The NBA” went around, especially when TNT, where Barkley and the show is under contract, lost to the NBA broadcast licensing battle, with a huge part of the new deal going to Disney through ESPN. Naturally, fans were worried that this might spell the end of the program, or at least the end of the hosts as fans knew them.
This has been an open topic that Barkley even joked about it multiple times in the show. Often, he would joke about not having to worry about bosses soon, since they would most likely be out of jobs anyway. However, with the recent confirmation that the show will be moving to ESPN, Barkley acknowledges the upcoming change in a way true to his style.
“Times have changed, Kenny [Smith],” Barkley said at the start of one of their episodes. “We gotta go back to kissing a**.”
Charles Barkley:
“Times have changed, Kenny. We gotta go back to kissing ass.” 😂
(h/t @awfulannouncing)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 20, 2024
Charles Barkley Will Be “Free to Say Whatever He Wants”
Barkley, along with his “Inside The NBA” co-hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson, have given life to the program and made it a fan-favorite as it gave not only the usual game and player analysis and insights but with a good chemistry of humor amongst the hosts, too.
With the show now moving to ESPN, and with how Barkley has often expressed his disdain in working with the network, people have been concerned about how this could affect the dynamic of the show.
However, recent rumors suggest that while ESPN would be the home network for the show, TNT would retain editorial rights for it.
As per Front Office Sports, TNT will retain its “complete editorial control”. The deal for “Inside The NBA” to move to ESPN is part of a “swap” deal: they get the show, while TNT gets a wider coverage of college football and basketball.
“This is a win-win scenario for fans,” one source tells the publication. “The best sports show on TV survives. The Chuckster gets to say whatever the hell he wants. And ESPN finally gets their hands on Barkley and Inside the NBA.”
Charles Barkley is likely to retain his comedic brand as he will reportedly have the “freedom to say anything he wants,” including taking jabs at ESPN, some fans assume.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
