Charles Barkley makes huge claim on TNT leaders, likely to take over 'Inside the NBA'

Charles Barkley is confused, depressed, and, most importantly, enraged that TNT is in danger of losing its NBA rights and the chance to air his favorite "Inside the NBA" show with the network. 

According to reports on Tuesday, the NBA is close to finalizing new media rights deals with Disney/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon, leaving TNT without NBA games for the first time in more than two decades. Its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is capable of matching NBC's package, although this is doubtful.

In that setting, Barkley went on "The Dan Patrick Show" and chastised the leadership for allowing the NBA to go away. He stated that morale is naturally low at TNT and criticized that WBD chose to obtain rights to College Football Playoff games instead.

According to Yahoo Sports, “Morale sucks, plain and simple. I just feel so bad for the people I work with, Dan. These people have families and I just really feel bad for them right now. These people I work with, they screwed this thing up, clearly, and we don’t have zero idea what’s gonna happen. I don’t feel good. I’m not gonna lie, especially when they came out yesterday and said we bought college football. I was like, well, damn, they could have used that money to buy the NBA.”

Inside the NBA is one of the most popular studio shows

"Inside the NBA" continues to be one of the most popular studio shows in sports, with Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O'Neal giving more candid analysis and humor than any of its competitors. Johnson, a seasoned broadcaster, is reportedly planning to continue at TNT even if the network loses the NBA. 

Charles Barkley further suggested that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav irritated NBA Commissioner Adam Silver by stating, "We don't have to have the NBA" in 2022. At the very least, it was a negative portent, given the impending media rights talks and WBD's need to slash expenditures.