Charles Barkley calls WBD execs "clowns" amid NBA media rights negotiations

The legendary NBA analyst also said that "moral sucks" internally right now.

May 24, 2024 - 02:30

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Charles Barkley calls WBD execs "clowns" amid NBA media rights negotiations

Charles Barkley and the "Inside The NBA" crew are in Minnesota covering the Western Conference Finals, their last NBA series for the season, but it feels like this year could be the show's penultimate playoff run as well.

All signs are pointing toward Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) losing its NBA broadcasting rights starting the 2025-26 season as NBC has reportedly swooped in to take one of the league's packages together with ESPN and Amazon.

Barkley has already confirmed that he will be a free agent if TNT can't keep the NBA. The NBA legend has never been one to mince words, even joking on air that he will be looking for jobs on LinkedIn.

He bit his tongue during WBD's Upfront last week, but on Thursday, May 23, Barkley hopped on "The Dan Patrick Show" and explained how everyone is doing at TNT amid the potential end of the award-winning show.

"Morale sucks — plain and simple," Barkley said. "I just feel so bad for the people I work with, Dan. These people have families, and I just really feel bad for them right now."

Barkley didn't seem to be referring to his fellow on-air talents in Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kenny "The Jet" Smith, but instead the production staff that help create the show behind the scenes.

He also touched on the news that ESPN is licensing College Football Playoff games to TNT Sports saying that he believes the money there could have been used to pay for the NBA.

"I don't feel good, I'm not going to lie, especially when they came out yesterday and said we bought college football," Barkley said. "I was like, 'Well damn, they could've used that money to buy the NBA.'"

He said he believes the network is using the money it would've paid for the NBA to acquire new sports properties.

Dan Patrick asked Barkley if he considered creating a production company with the other members of the "Inside The NBA" crew to potentially recreate the same show and sell it to another network like NBC.

Barkley confirmed that he's actually considered hiring the production staff of "Inside The NBA" to his own production company, Fine Line Productions, but that he's waiting for what's going to happen first with TNT.

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He ranted about the top execs in the company, calling them "clowns we work for" and "fools." He also said he believes that the problem between the NBA and TNT may have started when CEO David Zaslav said the now infamous statements in 2022 that TNT "does not have to have the NBA."

"I think that probably pissed Adam [Silver] off," Barkley said.

Charles Barkley says morale sucks amid the uncertainty of "Inside the NBA" moving forward. And discusses the possibility of hiring the crew to his production company, continuing to do the show, and selling it. pic.twitter.com/gLoiKm7SM3— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 23, 2024