CHARLES Barkley has opened up about his contract with TNT, which contains a clause.
The 61-year-old NBA legend recently shared details of the process of signing a long-term contract with TNT, which has question marks after losing NBA media rights after the 2024-25 season.
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Barkley stunned the sports media world after announcing last week that he would not retire after next season and will continue working for TNT.
The NBA Hall of Famer is a star of the hit show Inside the NBA.
Last Thursday, Barkley appeared on ESPN’s Amber & Ian podcast and revealed his mission – to give cash gifts to his TNT colleagues behind the scenes.
Barkley appeared on The Dan Patrick Show the same day and confirmed that TNT’s Inside the NBA will continue beyond the 2024-25 basketball season.
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He also shared his contract clause, revealing his concern for his TNT co-workers who are in need job the most.
“I had a clause in my contract that I could be a free agent if we lost the NBA,” Barkley said.
“(TNT executives) came and met with me last week and I said, ‘What are we going to do?’
“My No. 1 priority is to keep as many people employed as possible and I have managed to do that. I don’t think we have any idea what we’re going to do.
“I said, ‘I want to keep everyone employed. If I have to take a pay cut, I will take a pay cut.’
“They say, you don’t have to do that.’ … But my No. 1 goal was to make sure every person at Turner was still employed.”
The NBA announced 11-year agreements to broadcast games on Amazon Prime Video, Disneyand NBC, which left WBD-Turner workers unsure of their future maintained.
Barkley revealed the bold move he plans to help his TNT friends.
“It’s been really sad at work the last few months because hundreds of people are going to lose their jobs,” Barkley said.
“I’m going to give all 50 people that are in the studio every night downstairs… I’m going to give each of those people $5,000.
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“That’s how much they mean to me.”
It was reported by Wall Street Journal that TNT could rename its show Inside Sports.
The network will still broadcast college basketball and football, as well as baseball, hockey and tennis.
Barkley has been a fixture on Inside the NBA since 2000.
He has worked alongside Ernie Johnson and Kenny “The Jet” Smith since then.
Shaquille O’Neal joined the program after retiring from the NBA in 2010.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
