Charles Barkley has never minced words, whether it’s about NBA analysis or political views. But with the future of “Inside The NBA” in jeopardy amid the uncertainty of the next NBA media rights deal, Barkley is now throwing his verbal jabs at those sitting at the top of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Speaking on the podcast “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” on Thursday, May 30, Barkley revealed that he’s been left in the dark about plenty of things regarding his status with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) which has left him “pretty pissed.”
“I don’t know sh—,” Barkley said. “It’s frustrating not knowing sh—.”
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Based on multiple reports, WBD could be left out of a deal with the NBA when the contracts are signed which could leave Barkley and “Inside The NBA” without a home.
Barkley has been hopping around different sports shows over the last few weeks talking about his stance on the on-going negotiations for the NBA media rights deal. Last week, he told Dan Patrick that “morale sucks” for the people in the show, citing the hundreds of production staff that go into making the award-winning show run.
He also referred to the executives at WBD as “clowns” and “fools” during his appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
When asked about whether the WBD execs spoke to him about his recent comments, the NBA legend said there’s no way they top brass at WBD would do that.
“They’re not going to call me — they know better,” Barkley said.
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But Barkley, who signed a 10-year contract with WBD in 2022 that gives him an out after next NBA season, said that it’s not only with NBA-related news that’s been kept from him.
Barkley said that he saw reports of the cancellation of his CNN talk show with Gayle King called “King Charles,” though he claims he and King were never informed by top brass at WBD. He said he assumed the show was on a limited run only due to his NBA work.
“Me and Gayle King are really pissed right now,” Barkley said. “They said ‘King Charles’ was cancelled. Well, first of all, they never said that ‘King Charles’ was cancelled. We were only supposed to do a limited run because I had to get back to my NBA job.”
While many of the headlines didn’t include the word “cancelled,” with outlets like The Hollywood Reporter and The Wall Street Journal saying the show “ended,” it clearly bothered both Barkley and King that they weren’t informed about the news.
“Me and Gayle talk all the time like, ‘Hey, have they told you that we were cancelled?’ I’m like, ‘No!'” Barkley said.
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Barkley added that as a business owner himself, it’s only right to tell someone before they’re being let go rather than have them find out in the headlines.
“If they cancel the show, listen, it’s there prerogative. But you at least have the common courtesy, in my opinion, to like, ‘Hey, Gayle, Charles,'” Barkley said.
The NBA legend also said that he does not have a relationship with WBD CEO David Zaslav, who took his position in April 2022, just a few months before Barkley signed his extention.
“I met him twice,” Barkley said. I saw him last weekend at Upfront he said, ‘hello,’ and that was it. … I thought he should’ve said something to us but he didn’t.”
Zaslav notably mentioned in 2022 that WBD “don’t have to have the NBA,” which may, Barkley has speculated, ruffled the feathers of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
It’s unclear when the NBA media rights deal situation will be solved — and there are reports that a lawsuit could even come into place if WBD is not allowed invoke its rights to match any media rights deal a rival may agree to with the league.
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