Charles Barkley has said a number of times this is his final contract with TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” but that’s fake news according to his colleague Shaquille O’Neal.
Shaq was a guest on this week’s “Marchand and Ourand” sports media podcast, a joint production between The Post and Sports Business Journal, and was asked by John Ourand if Barkley will really be done with the NBA studio show in two years, as he’s claimed.
“He’s never gonna quit,” O’Neal said. “Charles is gonna be here forever. We need him, and he needs us. I’m convinced that if I’m retired and I don’t do nothing, I will falter away. This is what we do and what we live for. It’s what we’ve been doing, and we need each other.
“We keep each other going. Look, I’ve been here 11 years. I’ve heard that spiel before, but he’s gonna be here till the wheels fall off.”
Barkley has been a part of “Inside the NBA” for 20 years now. Like Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith, who have been there even longer, he is such a fixture that he is like furniture.
Barkley has repeatedly talked about retiring from “Inside the NBA.”
“I’m trying to hang on for another couple years until I’m 60, and then they can kiss my ass. I’m only working until I’m 60,” said Barkley, 58, this past June.
TNT’s parent company WarnerMedia is in the process of merging with Discovery. Presuming the new conglomerate keeps NBA rights — the current deal expires after the 2024-25 season — it would seem to be a safe bet that keeping Barkley on the package would be a major priority for them, and that they will find a price that keeps him willing to work. O’Neal could very well be proved right.