Charles Barkley Announces His Upcoming Retirement And It Could Have Massive Ramifications On The NBA's Upcoming TV Deals

Charles Barkley is America's favorite TV analyst. He is real, raw, and funny as hell. It's unfortunate with the NBA TV rights in a bidding war and TNT seemingly being on the outside looking in as part of Warner Bros. Discovery with other networks with deeper pockets like NBC, Amazon, and Disney (ABC/ESPN). It had seemed like it would be just those three, but there was word the NBA was trying to carve out a fourth package, likely for TNT and their popular post-game show, Inside the NBA to stick around.

TNT's deal for NBA television rights runs through the 2024-25 season, and Chuck made a big statement today saying he's both not going to another network and also retiring after this season. That's huge news because Warner Bros. Discovery is in the middle of a negotiation! And now they just lost their most valuable player. Are you going to be watching Inside the NBA with (God forbid) Steve Smith?! That guy is awful! He's been stuck on NBATV for years and is one of the most boring commentators in the game! Sure, there were other options like my fellow Buccaneers fan, Vince Carter, or even Jamal Crawford who is a delight. But no one can fill Chuck's shoes! So the fact that he announced this news now is troubling as I would think it likely is the nail in the coffin for Inside the NBA, which I guess was going to be over as we know it anyway after next season when Chuck goes fishing.