When the NBA announced its new 11-year broadcasting deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video, many fans wondered what the future would hold for their beloved Inside the NBA and its iconic crew of Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal. ESPN later confirmed the fan-favorite show would continue, though not without a few caveats.

ESPN announced ahead of the 2025–26 season that Inside the NBA would run just 20 episodes, with a lighter schedule at the start, a decision that left Charles Barkley frustrated. “We’ve only been on ESPN, I think, four times in three months,” he said on The Dan Le Batard Show last month. “We were off all of December to Christmas, and we’re off all of January until the 24th. I don’t like that at all.” And amid that tense stretch, Barkley made another surprising decision.

“I think they wanted to back-end load the schedule. We’re going to be working a lot starting next week. We worked three days last week. I’ve been working one day a week for the last 25 years, or anything more than one day is tough,” Barkley said on The Next Round podcast, explaining what it has been like adjusting to the reshaped broadcasting landscape.

He then followed up with an announcement that caught many off guard: “It’s heavily backloaded. I think next week we work three days in a row, then another three days in a row, and then I take a sabbatical for March Madness. But I wish they had spread it out more, to be honest with you.”

You read that right. Barkley will return to calling March Madness games as part of CBS Sports and TNT Sports’ broadcast team.

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We have already seen Barkley team up with the legendary sportscaster Dick Vitale for their regular-season broadcast debut during the Indiana vs. Kentucky game, and they will be back again for the First Four, which is scheduled to take place in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16 and 17.

The former Auburn star admitted it had always been a personal goal to share the booth with Dick Vitale. “I told these guys one of my goals is to do a game with Dick Vitale,” Barkley said. “I’d love to do it because he’s been great for college basketball. It’d be good for the game.”

Barkley has shared a long and memorable relationship with TNT, joining in 2000 and becoming a cornerstone of the iconic Inside the NBA, a show that has earned 21 Sports Emmy Awards and become a benchmark for studio programming. Given that history, it is hardly surprising he would take a sabbatical for March Madness.

Although it appears unlikely to interfere with his existing ESPN commitments.

Charles Barkley Unlikely to Miss Any Inside the NBA Shows for March Madness Commitments

Even though Barkley will be on sabbatical during March Madness, the 2025–26 Inside the NBA schedule suggests viewers probably will not miss any of his scheduled shows.

Inside the NBA has five shows scheduled in March, all wrapping up by March 14. March Madness, meanwhile, begins March 16, with the Final Four set for April 4 and 6. The show returns April 12, ensuring Barkley will not miss any appearances and suggesting the schedule was arranged with his other commitments in mind.

Barkley has had his issues with ESPN, but he has always clarified that there is no tension behind the scenes, praising the staff and the work environment. His only concern has been scheduling, as he has made it clear he is not eager to do multiple shows or appear several times a week. Hopefully, that can be resolved, because fans would not want to see him retire anytime soon!