It all kicked off with Stephen A. Smith doing what he does best—stirring the pot, this time calling out none other than Charles Barkley. The ESPN mainstay didn’t mince words while reacting to Barkley’s jab at his overexposure in the media. “That’s my guy, but that doesn’t mean I always agree with him. And it doesn’t mean that I’m devoid of the right to call him a flaming hypocrite when it’s called upon,” Smith fired off on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
But Smith wasn’t just throwing darts at Barkley. He also roped in Shaquille O’Neal during the same rant. But even as he addressed the criticism, Smith was already looking ahead to their next chapter as colleagues. In what seemed like a blend of shade and shout-out, Smith added, “Charles Barkley, you continue to do the great job that you’ve been doing at TNT, and next year, it’ll start at ESPN.” That little reminder was clear—Barkley’s moving to the ESPN family, whether there’s tension or not.
Meanwhile, as TNT officially wrapped up its final NBA regular season after an iconic 36-year run, Barkley took a moment to address the end of an era. And this time, he dropped the heat and extended something closer to peace. “Embrace the unscripted, not fear the unscripted. If I had written the script, the NBA and TNT would be together forever. It’s not going to happen,” he said. “But while I was disappointed and I was sad, I was not bitter. We know how business works. Gratitude is the operative word for me.”
Not stopping there, Barkley reflected on his nearly four-decade journey with TNT. “Grateful that, you know, since 1989, I’ve been with this company. No matter what you call the company, I’ll always be Turner. And I’m grateful that I’ve worked with you guys.” He kept the emotions flowing, adding, “I’m grateful for all of the relationships we’ve built professionally and personally through the years. You just don’t realize that until you see people here on the road and say, hey, this is probably going to be it. And you think back to all the good times you had.” Clearly, the memories—and the people—mean a lot.
November 23, 2018; Las Vegas, NV, USA. Turner Sports sportscaster Charles Barkley before The Match: Tiger vs Phil golf match at Shadow Creek Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Finally, in classic Barkley fashion, he flipped the script again, turning his focus toward the future. “So I’m grateful for that and also grateful that we have members of our crew who are going to go work at NBC or work at Amazon. And you know how they got those jobs? Because their resume says NBA on TNT.” But just when it seemed like NBC would be his next stop, too, Barkley rejected their offer.
Why Charles Barkley turned down NBC?
Charles Barkley isn’t jumping ship to NBC anytime soon. Even though he admitted to weighing offers from both NBC and Amazon a couple of months ago, he’s not ready to walk away from Turner just yet. Sure, Inside the NBA is heading to ESPN next season, but Barkley’s future? Still a bit cloudy.
That became even more obvious during an episode of The Steam Room back in February when Barkley made it clear he wanted to settle the rumors once and for all. “I want to talk about my future, because there’s been a lot of stuff going on here about my future and I want to make everything perfectly clear,” he told co-host Ernie Johnson. But even with that statement, he left the door open for possibilities.
Eventually, Barkley laid it all out. “I’m informing NBC that I will not accept their offer. I’m going to cancel my future meetings with Amazon, I want to thank NBC, especially Mark Lazarus and Greg Hughes, for offering me a contract…but my heart has always and will be at Turner Sports.” Then came the big reveal—he met with ESPN and loved the vibe: “I’m hoping that this thing comes together and I can stay at TNT and ESPN… it’s all gonna be dictated by my workload.”
And yes, that workload is key. Barkley said if things get too packed, he’s out. Yet he still showed up on Get Up recently on his own terms. So clearly, he’s still in the mix. He even said he’ll talk it through with folks like Mike Wilbon and Ahmad Rashad before making any final decision. For now, all signs say he’s sticking around—just on his terms.
The post Charles Barkley Attempts to Reconcile With Stephen A Smith After Revealing Why He Rejected NBC’s Offer appeared first on EssentiallySports.