Charles Barkley Might Have Ulterior Motive With 'Retirement'

Charles Barkley announced on NBA TV Friday night that he's planning on retiring following the 2024-25 NBA season. Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports shared his theory on the matter on Monday...

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But color me skeptical. Barkley has been threatening to retire for 30 years. And he always returns to the court, or the Inside the NBA studio with a bigger, juicer contract.

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With TNT’s NBA relationship hanging by a thread, maybe Barkley is applying the only pressure he can to keep his network in business with The Association. After talking with ESPN, NBC, and Prime, Barkley said the only network he wants to work for is TNT. The message: Barkley and TNT are a package deal. If NBA wants to keep the best analyst and best studio show on TV, then they should carve out a smaller, cheaper, fourth package that will keep TNT in the hoops game. Or allow it to “match” offers from third-party bidders NBC and Prime.

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(The Spun)