Charles Barkley has savage quip about ‘Inside the NBA’ moving to ESPN

Many NBA fans are worried about how “Inside the NBA” could change after the show moves to ESPN, and it sounds like Charles Barkley shares some of those concerns.

Barkley cracked a not-so-subtle joke when “Inside the NBA” returned from a commercial break on Tuesday night. The Hall of Famer told host Ernie Johnson that “times have changed” and the TNT crew has to “go back to kissing a–.”

Charles Barkley jokes about the new developments with "Inside the NBA"

"Times have changed, Kenny. We gotta go back to kissing ass." pic.twitter.com/nPuAFYDlfK

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 20, 2024

That was an obvious reference to the recent news that “Inside the NBA” is moving to ESPN. Johnson tried to breeze past the comment, but Shaq and Kenny Smith got a kick out of it.

The reason “Inside the NBA” has been so great for years is that the show features a perfect collection of personalities and TNT gives them the freedom to say what they want. ESPN is known for keeping its on-air talent far more tight-lipped, and it remains to be seen if that will be the case for Barkley and company.

Fans were happy to hear that one longtime ESPN personality is not joining the “Inside the NBA” crew, so that should make one less dumper that Barkley has to kiss.