Charles Barkley will be part of “Inside the NBA” when it moves to ESPN next season, but do not expect to see him embracing debate on “First Take” as a result.
In an appearance on “SI Media With Jimmy Traina,” Barkley made it clear that one of his major concerns about the ESPN move was that he might have to appear on the network’s other shows. That will not be happening. Barkley also noted that TNT still plans to have Barkley and his colleagues do work for the network, further limiting his availability.
“We’re not doing all those other damn shows. I want to make that perfectly clear,” Barkley said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to work for ESPN, but I’m not going to be going on ‘First Take,’ ‘Get Up,’ ‘SportsCenter,’ Pat McAfee. That’s just not going to happen. That was my first gripe.”
Even with ESPN airing “Inside the NBA,” Barkley’s relationship with the network will be very limited. He has long been a critic of ESPN, and cracked some pretty funny jokes after the new arrangement was revealed. Most NBA fans will be pleased by this, as the freewheeling style of “Inside” does not quite match with ESPN’s more focused and debate-oriented programming.
The arrangement with ESPN does cut both ways. Barkley will not be a network regular, and top ESPN personalities will not be a part of “Inside the NBA” either.
H/T Awful Announcing
