Charles Barkley says he will retire from TV broadcasting in 2025: 'I'm going to pass the baton'

15/06/2024

Charles Barkley announced that he will retire from television after the 2024-25 NBA season during an appearance on NBATV after Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night. Barkley, one of the greatest players in NBA history, has spent the past two-and-a-half decades as a television analyst for TNT's Inside the NBA. The beloved studio show may be nearing the end of its run as reports have indicated that Turner could lose its NBA broadcasting rights after next season, and now, it seems, one of the faces of that show is set to call it a career as well.

As Barkley explained, he did speak with other networks about a possible role beyond the 2024-25 season, which is the last of the league's current broadcasting deal, but has ultimately decided that he is going to hang it up. Barkley said he is planning to retire "no matter what happens" with the future of TNT's rights.

"I've been thinking guys. I want to say this because you guys are my family. I really love TNT, all of the people who work here, NBA television, you guys have been great to me for 24 years, and I just want to say thank you to my entire NBA family. I love you guys. There's been a lot of noise around our network the last few months. I just wanna say, I've talked to all of the other networks, but I ain't going nowhere other than TNT.

"But, I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is gonna be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me, my heart is full with joy and gratitude. But I'm gonna pass the baton at the end of next year. I hope the NBA stays with TNT, but for me personally, I wanted you guys to hear it from me. Because I'm not going to do anymore interviews. Don't y'all be calling me, nobody call me. I'm not talking about this again. But I wanted to tell my NBA and NBATV and TNT family that I'm not going to another network, but I'm gonna pass the baton to either Jamal Crawford or Vince Carter or you Steve [Smith], but next year, I'm gonna just retire after 25 years. I just wanted to say thank you, and I wanted y'all to here it from me first."

If Barkley does indeed follow through on his plans to retire, he will be closing one of the most decorated broadcasting careers in all of basketball. The entire cast of Inside the NBA has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and Barkley himself has also been inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Though he entered the American consciousness as a player (Barkley had a Hall of Fame playing career, making 11 All-Star teams across 16 NBA seasons for three different teams), he achieved a new level of mainstream stardom for his work on television, which began on Inside the NBA in 2000. One of the great broadcasting careers in all of sports appears to be coming to a close.

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