NBA Media: Charles Barkley Drawing Strong Interest From ESPN, NBC

NBA legend Charles Barkley will likely soon be finished as an analyst with TNT Sports, but that doesn’t mean he’s finished as an analyst entirely.

Charles Barkley, NBA, TNT, Inside the NBA

Per Michael McCarthy and Dennis Young of Front Office Sports, both ESPN/ABC and NBC Sports have gone public with their interest in adding Barkley. TNT has lost NBA media rights to NBC and Amazon Prime in the new deal — though a TNT lawsuit to keep those rights is still pending.

Still, no one believes that TNT will actually win. If that’s the case, this will be its last season carrying the NBA, and therefore, Barkley and the rest of the popular Inside the NBA crew will have to move on.

As for ESPN and NBC … well, there is no denying the interest in bringing Barkley aboard in the fall of 2025.

“If Charles were available, we’d certainly love to have that conversation with him,” NBC chairman Mark Lazarus told McCarthy. “We’ve known him for a long time. We’ve known him from the time that we were there in 2000 or so. So we think that Charles adds a great element to everything he does. He’s been a guest on our shows. If he were to be available, certainly we’d be talking to him. Unless (ESPN president of content) Burke Magnus talks to him first.”

Magnus did indeed strongly suggest an interest in Barkley for ESPN.

“I would be lying if we said we weren’t interested in Charles,” Magnus said. “I think the entire industry is interested in Charles. He’s really that special. We’ll see.”

For the record, Inside host Ernie Johnson has said he will remain with Turner Sports/TNT regardless of the outcome. He could resurface on NBA TV, though that’s just speculation. Co-analysts Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will become media free agents.