Charles Barkley has once again put a potential expiration date on his broadcasting career, saying the 2026-27 NBA season is expected to be his final year on “Inside the NBA.”
This time, however, Barkley suggested he may not be the only longtime member of the show preparing to walk away. During an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” the 63-year-old said he and Ernie Johnson could leave together.
“Me and Ernie are a package deal,” Barkley said. “So right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year, 100 percent.”
Johnson, 70, has not publicly confirmed plans to retire, making Barkley’s comments about his longtime colleague particularly significant.
Barkley has discussed retirement before. He previously planned to step away as TNT was preparing to lose its NBA broadcasting rights, explaining that retirement had actually been on his mind for years.
“I told TNT I was going to retire at 60. And they were like, ‘Oh, he’s full of s–t. He’s not gonna retire,’” Barkley recalled to Simmons.
“So we come up, I said, ‘Hey guys, it’s my last year.’ They’re like, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘I told y’all six years ago I was gonna retire at 60.’ They’re like, ‘You were serious?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I was serious.’ Then they said to me, ‘Do us a favor. Stay two more years, ’til we get the new deal.’ I talked it over with my friends. I said, ‘OK, I’ll tell you what. I’ll stay ’til 62,’ which was last year … little did I know these f–king idiots was gonna lose the NBA,” he added.
The future of “Inside the NBA” ultimately changed when ESPN brought the popular studio show into its lineup, allowing Barkley and Johnson to remain alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith while retaining the longtime production team.
According to Barkley, Johnson personally encouraged him to remain with the program after TNT lost its NBA rights. Barkley said his primary motivation for continuing was protecting the jobs of staff members who had worked with the show for decades.
“The only reason I stayed is so everybody could keep their job behind the scenes,” Barkley told Simmons.
Barkley also revealed that NBC and Amazon expressed interest in him during the uncertainty surrounding the show, with NBC reportedly offering him more money than he had been earning at Turner.
