Charles Barkley says he and Ernie Johnson leaving ‘Inside the NBA’ after season

Charles Barkley has talked about retiring before. Several times, actually. This time, though, he says it’s different. And he apparently won’t be leaving Inside the NBA alone.

Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Barkley said the upcoming season will be his last, while also revealing that longtime host Ernie Johnson intends to step away.

“Me and Ernie are a package deal,” Barkley said. “So right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year 100 percent.”

That’s significant for more than the usual Barkley retirement watch.

Johnson, 70, has not publicly announced plans to retire from Inside. Barkley indicated that Johnson’s plans were part of the conversation that convinced him to stick around after TNT lost its NBA rights and the show moved to ESPN under a licensing agreement.

Barkley said his primary motivation for staying was helping Inside make the transition and preserving jobs for the people who have worked on the show for years.

“I could have gone to NBC and made more money if I was concerned about money,” Barkley told Simmons. “NBC offered me more money than I was making at Turner.”

Of course, we’ve been down the Barkley retirement road before. He once insisted he would retire at 60, later agreed to remain through age 62 and again announced plans to leave after TNT lost the NBA. Each time, something changed.

So nobody should start engraving the retirement plaque just yet. But Johnson makes this one different.

If Johnson really is ready to leave, Barkley sounds prepared to follow him. And if both go, ESPN and TNT would have to decide whether Inside the NBA can really remain Inside the NBA without two of the people who made it what it is.

Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal are obviously major parts of the show. Others could fill seats.

Replacing Barkley is difficult enough. Replacing Barkley and Ernie? That might be when Inside the NBA as we’ve known it actually ends.