NBA legend Charles Barkley expressed his frustrations with ESPN not giving “Inside the NBA” the same space they had on TNT. The marquee show became one of the best in the world of sports with Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson earning a lot of love from fans.
Barkley said he wouldn’t want to work more on ESPN than he did at TNT, but the company decreased his workload instead. During an appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show” this week, Barkley shared his thoughts on the transition from TNT to ESPN.
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While he labeled it as “great,” the 1993 NBA MVP revealed that he wasn’t happy with the little time they had been given on screen.
“We’ve complained, we’ve only been on ESPN four times in three months,” Barkley told Le Batard. “I don’t like that at all. What I was talking about working all the time, because I love watching basketball – I’m not going to do all these damn shows. I’m not gonna be on ESPN One, Two, Three, Deportes, Nacho, Echo, whatever they call it. I’m not gonna be doing all that, but I wish we had been on more during the first half of the season.”
Barkley noted that the crew only worked one day in December, during the Christmas Day slate. If fans felt the same as “Chuck,” things are about to change. Inside the NBA will air Saturday, next Wednesday and Saturday.
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He added that the show will air 15 times between February and April. They will cover the NBA playoffs on a nightly basis, but there are still three months before that moment arrives.
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