Charles Barkley has said some wild things over the years, including comments related to Inside the NBA, the sports talk show he’s long co-hosted. Roughly a week ago, Barkley made headlines again when he revealed he’d complained about the show airing less frequently since moving to ESPN. Since then, some people have weighed in on the reasons for the show having fewer broadcasts. Inside recently returned the airwaves and, during that airing, Barkley dropped some choice words for the “fools” who’d spoken out.
Assumptions About Inside The NBA’s Schedule Are Made By Social Media Users And A TV Host
Before this past Saturday, January 24, Inside the NBA last aired on Christmas Day and, prior to that, a new episode of the show hadn't aired since November 12. All the while, some fans online began to speculate about the lower number of broadcasts. Veteran media personality Colin Cowherd didn’t keep his own thoughts a secret.Cowherd addressed the matter on his Fox Sports show, The Herd, this past Friday. After referencing Barkley’s complaints, Cowherd shared his thoughts on Inside’s position:
[Charles] wishes he’d work more, and my feeling is — this is just conjecture — is that ESPN has a great relationship with the NBA, and they said, ‘Yeah, we’ll bring that show over. You won’t see it as much.’ Put it on the shelf a little bit. Because Adam Silver…
The assertion from Cowherd suggests that the National Basketball Association worked with Disney's flagship sports network to push Inside to the side for a bit. So, if that were true, why would that have happened? Well, Cowherd dropped more reasons for why he thinks Inside has been “buried”:
It felt very, very big at one time and, now, it’s invisible, so I don’t know. I’m just saying conjecture, but I know there were people upstairs in the NBA office that didn’t like how [Inside] lampooned the league and some of the players…. I would say people upstairs didn’t love sometimes — they would say, ‘NFL shows don’t make fun of the players, why are we making fun of the players?’ …. I’m just saying, Charles is complaining; it feels obvious to me that — you have these new deals, and there’s a lot of understandings that don’t have to be contractual. David Stern didn’t like when people were critical of the NBA either. They’re very sensitive in the NBA.
ESPN brought Inside the NBA into the fold after Warner Bros. Discovery (the parent company of TNT) lost the broadcast rights to the league. What should also be pointed out is that the show’s schedule was pre-planned and announced months ago. ESPN President Burke Magnus also said the show wasn’t airing as much due to a provision on Turner Broadcasting/TNT’s part. Magnus has also shared the company’s intention to add more broadcasts next season. Now, though, Charles Barkley is calling out the rumors.
Charles Barkley Didn’t Hold Back When Addressing Rumors About Inside The NBA
By the time he was on air this weekend, “Sir Charles” was definitely aware of the chatter sparked by his initial scheduling comments. He initially sought to clarify his sentiments about complaining to upper management. While Barkley even initially said he’d enjoyed working for ESPN, he still reiterated during the broadcast that “there was no reason for us to be off two months.” The basketball hall of famer then turned his attention to the “fools on television” who made claims about why he and his crew hadn’t been on the air as much lately:
There’s some fools at home or on the internet – they’re at home now – saying that we were talking bad about the players, so they made us work less. Shut the hell up! Shut the hell up. This is already scheduled…. These guys [are like,] ‘They’re gonna put them on the shelf, because they don’t want them on TV.’ Man, y’all need to shut the hell up. This was already planned months and months ago. All I said was I would’ve liked to work more in [December].
From there, two of Charles Barkley’s co-hosts – Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson – emphasized the fact that the show is now set to air heavily over the next few months. As part of that, the group will cover the NBA postseason, including the Finals. The hosts’ heightened presence for the playoffs is actually one of the reasons Shaquille O’Neal is cool with the new schedule.
So, all in all, it would seem that fans should be wise not to buy into any rumors regarding Inside the NBA’s schedule at ESPN. I’m still curious, however, as to how the network might make adjustments for the show’s schedule next season following fan complaints. For now, though, check out Charles Barkley, Shaq and co. when they return yet again amid the 2026 TV schedule on Wednesday, January 28, starting with NBA Tip-Off at 6 p.m. ET.
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