Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff has rapidly established herself among the world’s elite tennis players. The American, with her grit and perseverance, has taken the world by storm. At the age of 21, she has multiple accolades to her name, including the 2023 US Open and 2024 French Open as a doubles player. TNT’s recent acquisition of French Open rights thrust her into a string of network promos. It was Charles Barkley who previously caused social media drama about his comments about the said tournament.

Gauff is in Rome for the Italian Open—her final tune‑up before Roland Garros begins May 25. The same that Charles Barkley butchered on national TV. The promo included commentary about the clay-court Slam being streamed on Max. However, the promo quickly took a comical turn thanks to two NBA icons. Shaquille O’Neal and Chuck. The latter said, “It’s just that from French Open to Roland Garros, the most stupidest things I’ve ever heard.”

The TNT crew bungled the tournament’s name, which has always been Roland Garros. This was a week ago, and the promo aired once again on the Inside the NBA broadcast. But this time, it involved the current stars, including Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, and Rajeev Ram, amongst others, choosing one of the Inside crew hosts as their doubles partner.

Before we get to their answer, Charles Barkley even said, “Good luck, Coco (Gauff). Frances (Tiafoe), good luck.” But they did not choose him as their partner. Gauff said, “Probably Shaquille O’Neal. Because I met him, his hands are like massive.” Tiafoe quickly topped the roast. “I’m definitely not going Shaq, the rack going to be too small. He’s going to be terrible.” Though he trashed Shaq, Tiafoe praised Kenny Smith.

“I’m going with Kenny the Jet man, I don’t know why, but I feel like out of all them, he could be somewhat decent. Sorry Ernie.” If you see, the 27YO did not speak about Sir Charles. When asked why not, Charles Barkley. The answer was, “No I, I hate it.” Barkley, once the Insider’s go‑to analyst, was left on the bench, as both Tiafoe and Gauff ignored him as a doubles partner.

Charles Barkley was ready to take extra responsibility a few months ago

Months before Inside the NBA’s future hung in the balance, Turner Sports secured U.S. rights to the French Open with a landmark ten‑year, roughly $650 million agreement, averting what had been a gathering storm over TNT’s dwindling NBA portfolio. In late 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery formally announced the deal with the French Tennis Federation, positioning TNT, TBS, truTV, and Max as the tournament’s new U.S. home starting in May 2025. Charles Barkley, in an interview with Dan Patrick, was also open about the idea of analyzing Tennis. “Hey, listen, I don’t know anything about tennis. But I know we just got the French Open.” This idea was also shared by TNT’s higher executive.

“We continue to add to the breadth and depth of our sports portfolio — including new properties in the College Football Playoffs, Roland-Garros, NASCAR, BIG EAST college basketball, Mountain West football, among others–and it’s fantastic to have Charles for this journey as we develop new content ideas and shows for our fans.” Turner Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser also said in a statement that they were open to other shows post the NBA. That same release noted Barkley’s existing ten‑year contract (signed in 2022 for about $210 million) extends through 2032. Despite publicly lamenting Warner’s missed NBA bid—and even threatening retirement—he reiterated his commitment.

“I love my TNT Sports family… I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them both on the shows we currently have and new ones we develop together in the future. This is the only place for me.”

As stated, this was months ago, when Inside the NBA had no future. But now, it has one too on ESPN, where Charles Barkley doesn’t want to overwork. But it will be interesting to see if the NBA analysts switch over to the Tennis desk any time soon. After all, it’s a 10-year deal, and anything can change in the future.