Charles Barkley Announces Retirement From Television After 2024-25 NBA Season

 

Charles Barkley, one of the most famous faces of basketball TV coverage over the past 20 years, is ending his career just as the NBA broadcast carriage is about to undergo a dramatic shift.

Following Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday, the seasoned TNT commentator and Hall of Famer declared his intention to retire following the 2024–25 NBA season.


The announcement coincides with widespread rumors that NBC will soon acquire the NBA rights from TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery.

 “There’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months. I just want to say, I talked to all 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 going to be my last year on television,” Barkley said. “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 going to pass the baton at the end of next year. I hope the NBA stays with TNT … I’m not going to another network, but I’m going to pass the baton to Jamal Crawford or Vince Carter or you Steve [Smith], but next year, I’m just going to retire after 25 years.”

multiple Emmy Award winner When reports first started to circulate last month that TNT might no longer be the home of NBA coverage, including the venerable studio program Inside the NBA, where Barkley has been a mainstay since joining the network as an analyst in 2000, Barkley made a suggestion that he might be done with television.

The former Philadelphia 76er said in an interview at the time that 200 jobs might be lost.

“It just sucks right now for the people I work with,” Barkley said. “I’m worried about all the people I work with. I just turned 61. I’ve got enough money.”

He then added about his future if WBD was outbid, “I don’t even look at it as getting fired. I look at it like, ‘Damn, I get to play more golf?!’ People ask me what I’m thinking right now and I tell them, ‘Please get this Western Conference Final over’” so that golf and fishing take center stage over the late-spring and summer.”