Charles Barkley has never been afraid to speak his mind.
The basketball legend has become a much-loved part of Inside the NBA — the crown jewel of sporting studio shows — and will have a new home next season.
Barkley has been a much-loved part of Inside the NBA for yearsGettyBarkley and his colleagues will soon move to ESPN from TNT, as the latter will lose its NBA rights at the conclusion of the 2024/25 season.
The team has even been preparing for its ‘Last Dance’ on TNT with lavish gifts.
But just as ESPN licenses The Pat McAfee Show, it will also license Inside the NBA, allowing the network to air the best basketball show on television without building one from scratch.
Barkley is said to have signed a 10-year, $210million contract to be an analyst on the program back in 2022, and therefore has plenty of years left on his deal.
But if ESPN thinks he will fall into line, tone it down and do the network rounds, it’s in for a rude awakening.
The 11-time NBA All Star has already made it clear he has no interest in being paraded through the ‘car wash’ of studio talk shows, and on Friday, insisted he will not be holding back on what is viewed as a stricter network.
He has called ESPN’s bluff, and dared them to fire him before he’s even made his first appearance on air.
“I’m not going to change my personality,” Barkley told Outkick of the network move.
“They can’t fire me! I make too much money to get fired.
“So, they can’t fire me. First of all, if they fire me, they got to pay me for seven years, and I’m going to quit way before then.
Barkley and his colleagues will move to ESPN for the next NBA seasonGetty“But if they want to fire me, I would love for them to do that.
“The only decision we’ve been making is how long I’m going to work… I’m not worried about getting fired.
“And nobody at ESPN is going to tell me what to say or do. Period.”
While ESPN has plenty of other shows that will likely be desperate to have Barkley feature, including the likes of First Take and Get Up, the NBA legend has no intention of doing more than he’s contracted for.
“Nobody’s going to tell me what to say, or what to do. I get upset,” Barkley, who only cried twice during his career, said before taking aim at a soon-to-be colleague.
“(ESPN) is like, ‘The Lakers are contenders.’ I’m like, ‘No, they’re not.’ They know they’re not contenders.
Barkley has made his feelings clear on a move to ESPNYOUTUBE: OUTKICK“Kendrick Perkins, who don’t know his a** from a hole in the wall, he’s like, ‘The Lakers are contenders. The Lakers are contenders.’
“I said, ‘They’re not contenders.’ And, clearly, if you lose in the first round (of the playoffs), you aren’t a contender.”
While Barkley may already be daring ESPN to fire him, the NBA legend knows just how valuable he will be to his new network, given just how popular he and his colleagues have been on TNT.
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