Carlos Barkley took to Instagram on Friday morning to express the feeling many basketball fans have felt this week:
“It’s just shit.”
Barkley, longtime analyst on the popular show “Inside the NBA“studio show, made your comments in a statement posted two days after the conclusion of the league an 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN and Amazon starting with the 2025-26 season.
This deal means that TNT, which has broadcast NBA games since 1989, will no longer do so after next season.
See more information: Warner Bros. Discovery vows to ‘take appropriate action’ after NBA rejects offer
TNT controller Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday that sent a corresponding offer to the league, with The Times reporting that the company was targeting Amazon’s bid of $1.8 billion a year for a game package that would go to Prime Video. But the NBA said in a statement Wednesday that Warner Bros. Discovery did not match the terms offered by Amazon.
TNT said in a statement the same day: “We think [the NBA has] We have grossly interpreted our contractual rights in relation to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and will take appropriate action.”
Barkley didn’t hold back.
See more information: On the NBA bench, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav Faces Difficult Questions
“It’s clear the NBA wanted to break up with us from the start,” he wrote. “I’m not sure TNT had a chance. TNT matched the money, but the league knows that Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off.
“It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over fans. It’s just shit.
The NBA declined to comment.
”Inside the NBA” began in 1989. Ernie Johnson became the show’s first and only permanent host the following year and was later joined by analysts Kenny Smith (1998), Barkley (2000) and Shaquille O’Neal (2011). Over the years, the show has provided plenty of basketball analysis and Lots of laughs.
See more information: Enough with ‘Inside the NBA’? Here are some of Chuck, Shaq, Kenny and Ernie’s key moments
All of this seems to be coming to an end – but not yet.
“We’re going to give you everything we have next season,” said Barkley, who also said he will retire from TV in 2025.
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
