By ALEX RASKIN, US SPORTS NEWS EDITOR
Published: 16:40 EST, 23 January 2026 | Updated: 16:40 EST, 23 January 2026
Charles Barkley is being underutilized by ESPN, according to none other than Charles Barkley.
'We've complained, we've only been on ESPN four times in three months,' Barkley told podcaster Dan Le Batard of himself and his 'Inside the NBA' co-hosts Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. 'I don't like that at all.'
TNT's long-time NBA pre-game and halftime show, Inside the NBA was so popular among basketball fans that the league and its network partners found a way to keep the program going after Warner Bros. Discovery lost the domestic media rights. Beginning this season, 'Inside the NBA' can now be seen on ESPN, although not as frequently as everyone would like.
Barkley made it clear, he's always happy to do Inside the NBA from the show's Atlanta Studios, but he's not interested in appearing in ESPN networks' vast array of talking-head shows.,
'What I was talking about working all the time, because I love watching basketball – I'm not going to do all these damn shows,' he said. '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.'
The good news for Barkley, and basketball fans, is that Inside the NBA will return Saturday, Wednesday and January 31 on ESPN.
Kenny Smith (left) and Charles Barkley are two of the three ex-players on Inside the NBA
Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Jalen Rose, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley talk before the playoff game between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers on May 31
'So they're gonna start making up some of the days,' Barkley said. 'But we only worked one day in December, that was Christmas Day… I wish we had worked more. The guys at ESPN have been great but we will know more when we get schedule heavy the last half of the season.'
Barkley, who has criticized the 'Worldwide Leader' for years, also suggested a potential off-ramp for ESPN if they're unhappy with him.
'I'm 100 percent retired, but if I can do something just a little bit stupid so they have to fire me, they'll have to pay me for the whole seven years,' he said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to ESPN for comment.
Inside the NBA will appear on ESPN and ABC's league programming while it continues to be produced by TNT in Atlanta.