Charles Barkley May Listen To Offers From ESPN, Amazon, NBC

Charles Barkley has become a legendary NBA analyst on TNT, but TNT appears very much to be losing NBA media rights. So that leaves Barkley with multiple options, including retirement.

That is something he will consider, according to reports. But he also told Andrew Marchand of The Athletic that he will either remain with TNT Sports on his 10-year, $210 million contract or he will listen to offers from the others (along with contemplating retirement).

Barkley, 61, is in the third year of his TNT deal. He is perhaps the most notable face on the TNT studio show Inside the NBA, along with Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and host Ernie Johnson.

“My deal is 10 years, $210 million,” Barkley told Marchand. “Turner has to come to me ASAP and they have to guarantee my whole thing or they can offer me a pay cut, which there is no chance of that happening and I’ll be (a) free agent.

“My thing was, ‘Wait, y’all f— up, I didn’t f— up, why do I have to take a pay cut?”

Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT, is suing the NBA after the NBA announced it would not honor TNT’s right to match. TNT has attempted to match Amazon’s portion of the league’s new 11-year media rights deal, reportedly worth about $77 billion.

“I wouldn’t want them to sue,” Barkley said. “The NBA clearly wanted to break up with us. I don’t want to be in a relationship where I have to sue somebody to be in it. That makes zero sense.

“If you have to sue somebody to stay in a relationship, do you think that is a healthy relationship?”

He added that he doesn’t really see a place for TNT in the current media landscape.

“It’s going to all go to streaming in 11 years,” Barkley said. “I think this is just a cash grab, but they needed streaming because in 11 years nobody’s going to be able to afford these rights but streaming.

“They’re kind of getting their cake and eating it, too. They got ESPN and NBC and they got streaming.”