Charles Barkley has no concerns about getting an earful from his bosses for publicly airing grievances as he stews over TNT’s handling of its NBA rights negotiations.
With TNT’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly on the brink of losing its NBA rights, the 61-year-old Hall of Famer has gone on the offensive in multiple interviews, sticking up for “Inside the NBA’s” behind-the-scenes crew and expressing dissatisfaction over WBD CEO David Zaslav saying in 2022 that TNT didn’t need the NBA.
And Barkley, never one to shy away from voicing his opinion, isn’t going to stop now.
“Number one, they’re not gonna call me,” Barkley said of his bosses on the “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” podcast. “They know better.”
Barkley proceeded to again criticize Zaslav — he says the two don’t have a relationship and only met for the second time at WBD’s recent upfronts — and believes NBA commissioner Adam Silver did not take kindly to the exec’s comment.
“Secondly, he never should’ve said that. Plain and simple,” Barkley continued, per SI.com. “I think this is our third negotiations and we’ve always signed during the exclusive window. It’s never come up for bidding. Clearly Adam is upset. I’m assuming he’s upset. Something is going on, to be honest with you, because if we have the right to match, it would be a simple — ‘yeah, we’re gonna match’ or ‘we’re not gonna match.’ That’s the thing that’s got us disturbed the most.”
The 11-time All-Star also contends that network brass has done “a really s—ty job” of keeping he and his coworkers in the loop about the status of the negotiations.
“Just say something. We have not discussed it,” Barkley said. “And I don’t mean for me. The people who work there. They’re the ones on pins and needles. Just say something to let the people be able to breathe a little bit. I can’t imagine having a family and bills. Realistically, you probably gotta start looking for another job. You’re not gonna wait a year and get fired.”
Barkley recently was interviewed by New York Times reporter Tania Ganguli, who said Barkley insisted on talking to her after security and PR officials tried to stop him.
This bothered Kenny Smith, who said Ganguli “should clear it through Turner” and “do it the right way.”
“Inside the NBA” host Ernie Johnson also “castigated” Ganguli for trying to interview him without permission from TNT, underscoring the tension behind the scenes as the company’s future with the NBA hangs in the balance.
Sports Business Journal recently reported that the NBA was set to formalize contracts with Disney, NBC and Amazon for new rights deals that would begin with the 2025-26 season.
It’s unclear whether TNT has tried to match any of those companies’ offers to try to retain a rights package.
NBC would take over TNT’s “B” package for $2.6 billion a year, SBJ reported, if the deal goes through.