Opinion
Charles Barkley eying retirement after TNT contract is up: ‘I don’t wish to die on TV’
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Charles Barkley is among the true gems in sports activities media and a fixture on TNT’s Contained in the NBA.
However take pleasure in him when you can, of us, as a result of as soon as his present contract is up, the outspoken 58-year-old is looking it quits. Talking with reporters on a convention name Tuesday, Barkley revealed his contract is up after the 2023-24 season, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
“And that’s in all probability going to be it for me,” Barkley stated.
Charles Barkley is seen in attendance in the course of the UFC Struggle Evening occasion at UFC APEX on November 20, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Barkley has been on the present for the reason that 2000-01 season, when he joined forces with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith. Shaquille O’Neal joined following his retirement in 2011 and since then, the present has gained 10 Sports activities Emmy Awards.
“It’s been an ideal, great point,” Barkley stated. “I really like Ernie, Kenny, Shaq and everyone we work with. However I simply don’t really feel the necessity to work till the day I die. I don’t, man. I’ll be 61 years previous if I end out my contract.
“And I don’t wish to die on TV. I wish to die on the golf course or someplace fishing. I don’t wish to be sitting inside over [by] fat-ass Shaq [waiting] to drop lifeless.”
Broadcasters Ernest Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal, from left, of “Contained in the NBA,” smile as they’re honored on the 2020 Basketball Corridor of Fame awards tip-off celebration and awards gala, Friday, Might 14, 2021, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photograph/Kathy Willens)
Whereas Barkley has seemingly put a deadline on his retirement, O’Neal has been way more skeptic.
“He’s by no means gonna give up,” O’Neal instructed the “Marchand and Ourand” podcast in November. “Charles is gonna be right here eternally. We want him, and he wants us. I’m satisfied that if I’m retired and I don’t do nothing, I’ll falter away. That is what we do and what we stay for. It’s what we’ve been doing, and we want one another.
“We maintain one another going. Look, I’ve been right here 11 years. I’ve heard that spiel earlier than, however he’s gonna be right here until the wheels fall off.”
Former skilled basketball participant Charles Barkley speaks onstage at ‘Learn how to Stay Related In At present’s Digital Age’ in the course of the 2015 SXSW Music, Movie + Interactive Pageant at Austin Conference Heart on March 13, 2015 in Austin, Texas.
(Getty Photographs)
In recent times, TNT has trotted out a number of former present and former gamers, together with Candace Parker, Dwyane Wade and Draymond Inexperienced. The latter, nonetheless an All-Star caliber participant with the Warriors, is reportedly being groomed to exchange Barkley as soon as he retires.
