It looks like Charles Barkley is sticking to his plan to retire from TNT when his contract expires.
In a conference call Tuesday, Barkley said he has two years remaining on his deal, which runs through the end of the 2024 season. After that, it’s goodbye television, so the former NBA great can spent more time out in the links.
“I just don’t feel the need to work until the day I die,” Barkley said. “I’ll be 61 years old if I finish out my contract, and I don’t want to die on TV — I want to die on the golf course or somewhere fishing. I don’t want to be sitting beside old [expletive] Shaq and drop dead.”
Barkley joined TNT in 2000 after retiring from the NBA, and has contemplated retiring many times. In 2019, Barkley said he was seriously considering to walk away from his role on TNT’s popular "Inside the NBA" before his contract expired.
“I think about it every year. I’m not going to work [expletive] forever. I can promise you that,” Barkley told the Inquirer at the time.
Barkley’s comments come as he and his longtime TNT colleagues Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaq prepare to host an alternate broadcast of the NBA All-Star game on Sunday on TBS in the style of ESPN’s popular Manningcast.
“We have zero idea what the hell we are doing Sunday, to be honest with you,” Barkley said Tuesday. “We’re just going to go on TV and have fun like we normally do.”
“We’re kind of like Peyton and Eli without getting paid,” Barkley jokingly added. “This is some [expletive] they added in the last couple of weeks.”
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