Basketball legend Charles Barkley dropped a bombshell announcement – he plans to retire from his television analyst role after the 2024-25 NBA season.
The outspoken Hall of Famer made the surprise revelation during the NBA TV postgame show following Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals.
Barkley, who played with the Rockets from 1996-2000, has been a mainstay on TNT’s acclaimed “Inside the NBA” studio show for nearly 25 years after joining in 2000 following his playing career. However, with Turner’s NBA broadcasting rights expiring after next season and uncertainty looming, the 61-year-old says he will walk away from television no matter what network gets the new rights deal.
“I’ve been thinking guys…next year is gonna be my last year on television,” Barkley told his shocked co-hosts. “I just want to say thank you to my NBA family…But I’m gonna pass the baton at the end of next year.”
The iconic “Inside the NBA” crew of Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith have discussed the unknown future of their show. But Barkley made clear his retirement decision is final, hoping to hand off to fellow former players like Vince Carter or Jamal Crawford at TNT.
“There’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months and I just want to say I’ve talked to all the other networks, but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” Barkley said while working on NBA TV’s NBA Finals postgame show.
While a legendary player making 11 All-Star teams, Barkley may be even more beloved for his unfiltered, entertaining analysis alongside his studio teammates over the past quarter-century. All four have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
As he enters his 25th and final season as an NBA broadcaster, fans are bracing for the end of an era. One of the most popular and acclaimed careers on television is coming to a close when the candid, charismatic Barkley hangs up the mic for good in 2025.