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One of the biggest free agent bidding wars in the NBA could be on the horizon — and it doesn’t even include any star currently playing on the hardwood.
NBA legend Charles Barkley could become a sports media free agent if Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Not retaining his right to the NBA after next season.
While there is still no official contract signed by the NBA for its upcoming media deal, reports from several outlets have stated that the NBA has frameworks in place for deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon.
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There could be a bidding war between those three companies for Barkley’s services as he has publicly said he will opt out of the 10-year contract extension he signed with WBD in 2022 if he does not retain the NBA.
Where Barkley will go next is a mystery. When Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina asked if Barkley had a preference on where he would go, he responded by saying he would still have to depend on what the final package each network secures with the NBA would look like. This is still not clear.
“I don’t know who’s going to get what, so I couldn’t make an educated guess,” Barkley told Traina on the “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” podcast on Thursday, May 30.
More NBA media rights:
- Warner Bros. faces Discovery is in trouble after Comcast offers the NBA a huge deal
- Charles Barkley calls WBD executives ‘clowns’ amid NBA media rights negotiations
- The NBA appears ready to go live after announcing a framework deal with Amazon
Barclay said that apart from the rights packages, the logistics of filming would also be important in making his final decision.
“I had to sit down with these people and ask them, ‘What are you going to get?’” Barkley said. “Two important questions – what do you have and where are you going to pitch from?”
Barkley lives at home in Scottsdale, Arizona, but travels to TNT Studios in Atlanta, Georgia for “Inside The NBA.” He made sure to note that scheduling would be a priority, adding that if ESPN offered him a big payday, it wouldn’t matter much if he were to work consistently.
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“Let me tell you something — they won’t treat me like a dog,” Barkley said. “ESPN Radio, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes — I mean, no. As much as I love ESPN, I just turned 61. The idea that I’m going to be working like a dog in my mid-60s, that’s definitely not going to happen.”
Barkley’s feelings about ESPN’s work schedule are fair considering some of the network’s highest-paid stars like Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee, appearing on the air daily and sometimes more than once a day. But over the past few years, ESPN has struck deals with stars like Shannon Sharpe that allow them to be on the air only a few days a week.
Barkley may not know his next steps yet, but he is thinking about it Nightly jokes he broadcasts on the TNT airwaves, The shots he takes at WBD executivesand numerous appearances on shows like Traina, it appears he has already taken a step forward in preparing for his free agency.
"we will miss you. We’re done after tonight." -Charles Barclay
"You are not finished yet. We have to figure something out." – Luka Doncic
"We’ve got it all together next year too. Then who knows after that?" – Ernie Johnson 🏀🎙️📺😂 pic.twitter.com/neHy0NpqI8
– Awful ad (@awfulanouncen) May 31, 2024
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