It comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone that it looks like Charles Barkley is not actually retiring like he said he would.
Barkley was obviously frustrated with the course of TNT’s negotiations with the NBA. For months he expressed his concerns about the future of the partnership both publicly and unofficiallyHis announcement to us that he was retiring sounded like a mixture of an outburst of anger about the situation and a clever negotiating tactic.
But the reality is he was almost certainly never going to leave. Barkley is only two years into his 10-year, $210 million contract with TNT and is one of the highest-paid media personalities in sports. He’s not going anywhere.
So if he stays, what will Barkley do at TNT without the NBA?
There are already some good answers. Let’s take a closer look.
Increase his presence in college basketball
Charles Barkley has always been a staple in TNT’s March Madness college basketball coverage.
Sure, his stats are usually terrible and he’s always rooting for Auburn. But he also still provides that very blunt analysis that everyone loves. He can do a little more of that with the college basketball team in the fall, even if the NBA is no more.
Play some hockey
TNT is now involved in hockey and broadcasts NHL games on its network every Wednesday.
Charles Barkley seems to really enjoy talking about hockey. Here he is talking to the TNT crew about the Stanley Cup Final. Pretty good!
I don’t know if he can always do that, but I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of it.
Let him talk about golf
Like the NHL, I wouldn’t call Charles Barkley a golf fan by any stretch of the imagination. I wouldn’t want to hear him on the main broadcast of the Masters or anything like that.
But when TNT airs special events like The Match, it would be great to hear Barkley bring some lightness and fun to the show.
We’d also like to talk a little bit about his golf swing. He’s gotten pretty good, hasn’t he?
Let him work with Bleacher Report
I know Charles Barkley doesn’t use social media, but man, this would be an amazing opportunity to get him involved in some more social content.
Getting Barkley’s instant reactions to NBA moves through the B/R app would be a bit of a change from what we’re used to. It might not even be as good. But I’m still curious to see how it would work.
Let him have a late night sports show with the Inside the NBA crew
Think of a merger between Sportscenter and The Tonight Show. This is something Turner could do to maximize Barkley’s presence on his roster.
He’s made for late-night TV, right? Of course, you need a sports aspect to the show. But Barkley has so many opinions on so many other things and he’s never afraid to share them, no matter what others think.
We know Barkley can talk sports, but he’s also made political commentary. He did a show with Gayle King for a while that didn’t do as well as some thought. TNT also gave Barkley a show about race relations in America in 2017. The company is willing to try different angles with Charles.
The thing is, I don’t even think the show has to be that serious. Just take the Insights into the NBA Crew, put them on a set and let them cook for about an hour during NBA prime time. They’ll talk about basketball, of course, but the conversation can spill over into other areas. Sometimes it can be funny. Sometimes it can be serious. That’s the beauty of this show. That’s why it works.
TNT should do everything they can to keep operations going and I think this would be a good way to ensure that.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 5 Things (NHL!) Charles Barkley Can Still Do With TNT When Inside the NBA Leaves the Network
