Charles Barkley is not happy about the situation he and his “Inside the NBA” teammates find themselves in as the NBA wrestles with whether to keep TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discover as a partner in tense media rights negotiations.
“Simply put, morale is terrible,” Barkley said Thursday on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
Barkley blamed WBD CEO David Zaslav for saying at an investment conference two years ago that the NBA didn't need the league. Barkley said he wasn't sure if the comment angered NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, but it certainly didn't help the negotiations.
“The people that I work with obviously screwed this up,” Barkley said. “I have no idea what's going to happen. It doesn't feel good, but I'm not going to lie.”
TNT may exit, ESPN will stay, Amazon will swoop in, and NBC will return to the NBA, according to reports.
Barkley was perplexed by TNT Sports' addition of College Football Playoff games in a licensing deal with ESPN announced Wednesday. The signal to him was that the company was putting money into other sports because it no longer needed to spend money on the NBA.
“I feel so sorry for the people that I work with, Dan,” Barkley said. “These people have families. I feel so bad for them right now.”
“Inside the NBA” won its fourth Sports Emmy this week for “Best Studio Show: Limited.” The show is hosted by Ernie Johnson and features Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny “The Jet” Smith.
Berkeley said he had spoken with staff about signing with his production company, Fine Line Productions, and then selling the show to one of the remaining rights holders.
“We're just sitting back and waiting to figure out what they're going to do,” Barclay said, “My two favorite wines are Inglenook and Opus, and these clowns I work for have turned us into Ripple and Boone's Farm and Thunderbird.”
Even if WBD were to lose to the NBA, the show was scheduled to continue for another year on TNT, as the league's new media deal doesn't start until the start of the 2025-26 season.
At one point, Patrick chose an observation rather than a question: “You're actually angry.”
“Yes,” Barclay replied.
