Charles Barkley said he’s “complained” to ESPN over scheduling of “Inside the NBA.”
During a Wednesday appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” Barkley didn’t mince words while discussing his move from TNT to the Worldwide Leader — after both companies agreed to distribute “Inside the NBA” exclusively on ESPN and ABC for 11 years, starting with the 2025-26 season.
“We’ve complained, we’ve only been on ESPN four times in three months,” Barkley said referring to co-hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. “I don’t like that at all.
“What I was talking about working all the time, because I love watching basketball – I’m not going to do all these damn shows … I’m not gonna be on ESPN One, Two, Three, Deportes, Nacho, Echo, whatever they call it. I’m not gonna be doing all that. But I wish we had been on more during the first half of the season.”
Barkley added that “Inside the NBA” is scheduled to air this Saturday (Jan. 24), next Wednesday (Jan. 28) and Saturday (Jan. 31).
“So they’re gonna start making up some of the days,” Barkley said. “But we only worked one day in December, that was Christmas Day… I wish we had worked more. The guys at ESPN have been great but we will know more when we get schedule heavy the last half of the season.”
Barkley also joked that ESPN will have to pay him for the seven years left on his contract if they fire him for calling his coworkers “idiots, punks, fools and jackasses.”
“I’m 100 percent retired, but if I can do something just a little bit stupid so they have to fire me, they’ll have to pay me for the whole seven years,” he said.
“Inside the NBA” will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events, including pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals and NBA playoffs.
TNT Sports will continue to independently produce “Inside the NBA” from its Atlanta-based studios over the term of the agreement.
