Once again Charles Barkley is pushing the boundaries of ‘gainful unemployment.’ We thought that Cardi B comment at the Game 3 halftime show was Chuck being unfiltered as usual. A day later, he revealed his unapologetic motives behind that comment. During Inside the NBA’s first NBA Finals series, Chuck stopped by Dan Patrick’s show where he confirmed that he’s engaged in a little play of chicken with the network executives at ESPN.

Barkley made a racy joke on Cardi B’s appearance that instantly left the Inside Guys in hysterics and went viral across social media where it drew mixed reactions. Chuck however, didn’t care for the criticism. Not only did he double down on his observation on The Dan Patrick Show the following morning, he went a step further when Patrick asked if management had disciplined him. Chuck pretty much challenged ESPN to hand him his walking papers.

“Dan, you know, I’m hoping they fire me,” Chuck responded to the former ESPN employee. While he was at it, he brought back his old retirement policy. “I got six or seven years left on my contract that they know I got no chance of doing. I would love for them to fire me and have to pay me for the next six or seven years.” 

Barkley signed a 10-year, $210 million contract in 2022 with TNT. After Turner lost the NBA media rights, Chuck almost retired. He only agreed to stay on his current contract, even walked away from a $100 million pay bump from NBC, when TNT licensed Inside the NBA to ESPN. Yet, Chuck is committed to not seeing the contract to the end.

“I was talking to my agent, I was like, ‘What can I do to get fired, but they have to pay me for the whole six, seven years?'” Chuck told Dan.

Well, he didn’t confirm if his agent told him to make a completely left field comment on the Game 3 halftime performer or if Chuck came up with that on his own.

Charles Barkley has a message for his haters

Charles Barkley’s financial logic is as brilliant as it is hilarious. Because ESPN now runs Inside the NBA, for the first time the Inside Guys are participating beyond their usual slate of Western Conference Finals games. From the get go, Chuck has been pushing the sanitized boundaries of the Disney-owned network with his lack of filter. Because they now have Chuck in the Finals, which is taking place in Madison Square Garden with a powerhouse celebrity row, he served a viral moment

As Cardi B commanded the sold-out arena, the Inside the NBA crew joked that they were competing with her for viewers’ attention. Barkley, unscripted as usual, famously quipped: “I don’t know if those B’s. Those might be Cardi D’s.”

There was no malice behind it but he’s not retracting it either. He’s instead turning it into a conspiracy concocted by Dr. Doofenshmirtz. “There’s zero chance I’m going to be working the next six, seven years. Zero. So I know if they fire me, they would have to pay me all those years, and I heard through the grapevine that I make great money, so thank goodness for that,” he told Patrick.

Chuck is also aware he’s both loved and hated. “So if people don’t like me or don’t have a sense of humor, they can kiss my a–.” And that was just the short of it. It went into more NSFW territory about his extreme weight loss from there.

But Perry the Platypus doesn’t have to foil this plot. ESPN is resigned to Chuckster’s brand of humor. They’ve largely remained quiet and let him spill the beans to Dan Patrick.

Chuck and the crew were back as usual for Game 4 where he provided more no-holds-barred commentary on the Spurs’ squandering a 29-point lead, the largest in NBA Finals history.