Charles Barkley stunned the sports world last week by announcing his retirement from broadcasting. The Hall of Famer said that the 2024-25 NBA season would be his final act as a television analyst regardless of WBD’s reported last-ditch efforts to retain its media rights beyond the 2025-26 season.
Barkley’s announcement led to his peers and colleagues pouring in their tributes, hailing the 1993 NBA MVP as a trailblazer in the sports media landscape. However, Draymond Green — who often shares a seat with Barkley on “Inside the NBA” on TNT — isn’t buying Barkley’s announcement.
“I just think Chuck is being very emotional. I don’t think Chuck is about to retire,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show” on Wednesday. “I think Chuck is just in a very emotional state right now, and he’s processing those emotions.”
Green felt that WBD’s reported inability to retain the NBA’s media rights led to Barkley reacting in the spur of the moment. Barkley has not hidden his displeasure over the turn of events, telling “The Dan Patrick Show” last month that “the morale sucks” in the TNT studios.
“One day you may wake up and be like, ‘You know what, I’m done with this stuff, I’m out of here,’ while you’re processing those emotions,” Green said. “And then you go a couple days, maybe a couple weeks, maybe even a couple months…and then you probably come to your senses and be like, ‘I’m not retiring, what was I thinking?’
“That is what I expect from Chuck… I think Chuck was just in his feelings.”
While most industry insiders expect ESPN/Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime to carry NBA games starting with the 2024-25 season, the NBA has yet to make an official announcement.
