Charles Barkley to entertain deals if TNT doesn't honor contract

Charles Barkley will either remain with TNT Sports on his 10-year, $210 million contract or he will listen to offers from ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video as he reconsiders retirement, he told The Athletic on Friday.

“My deal is 10 years, $210 million,” Barkley said in a phone interview. “Turner has to come to me ASAP and they have to guarantee my whole thing or they can offer me a pay cut, which there is no chance of that happening and I’ll be (a) free agent.

“My thing was, ‘Wait, y’all f— up, I didn’t f— up, why do I have to take a pay cut?”

Barkley is in the third year of his deal.

The NBA announced this week new deals worth a total of $77 billion over 11 years with incumbent ESPN and newcomers NBC and Amazon. In the process, the NBA rejected TNT Sports’ matching rights. TNT Sports filed a suit against the league in hopes of taking over Amazon’s deal, it announced Friday.

“I wouldn’t want them to sue,” Barkley said. “The NBA clearly wanted to break up with us. I don’t want to be in a relationship where I have to sue somebody to be in it. That makes zero sense.

“If you have to sue somebody to stay in a relationship, do you think that is a healthy relationship?”

Earlier Friday, Barkley released a statement through Bleacher Report saying that he didn’t feel the NBA wanted to do a deal with TNT Sports, which has had a relationship with the league for nearly four decades.

“It’s going to all go to streaming in 11 years,” Barkley told The Athletic. “I think this is just a cash grab, but they needed streaming because in 11 years nobody’s going to be able to afford these rights but streaming.

“They’re kind of getting their cake and eating it, too. They got ESPN and NBC and they got streaming.”

During the NBA Finals, Barkley, 61, said he planned to retire. He is not fully backing off those statements, but his ears will be open if he is not paid in full by TNT Sports.

Barkley said he has talked with ESPN, NBC and Amazon for the last couple of months.

“Right now, I’m planning on retiring,” Barkley said. “I’m not trying to do anything.”

Barkley said he would be “stupid” not to listen and informed the entities of his plans, but he wanted them to have their packages squared away.

“But from a compensation standpoint, I said, ‘I will sit down and see what y’all are going to have going forward,’” Barkley said. “I’ve been straight honest with all the companies.”

Barkely said he is still hesitant to not have his whole “Inside the NBA” team, including host Ernie Johnson and co-analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, plus the behind-the-scenes TNT people he adores. He expects next year, its final season, to be special.

“We’re going to go out with a bang,” Barkley said.

Barkley said Johnson won’t go to a new network, while he has not checked in on O’Neal’s or Smith’s plans. The Athletic was told from sources briefed on the other networks’ plans that they could offer to let Barkley and the full crew, including Johnson, the chance to remain in Atlanta and do the same show.

“Everything is still on the table,” Barkley said.

Barkley reiterated the people he really feels bad for in this whole situation are the ones behind the scenes who aren’t making millions.

“I feel bad for the people I work with,” Barkley said. “A lot of good people will lose their jobs. I have to give TNT credit, they tried everything to try and stay in the relationship, but the NBA wanted to move on. It’s that simple.”

Required reading

(Photo: Steven Freeman / NBAE via Getty Images)