Charles Barkley knows how to take people by surprise. He’s had a tense relationship with ESPN over scheduling issues for Inside the NBA. However, the Hall of Famer admitted he dreamed about working for the “greatest sports network ever”. Would he have left TNT to do so? Probably not, and he still wishes Inside the NBA remained in its true home. That’s where Adam Silver disappointed him.

Before migrating to ESPN, TNT missed out on a chance to renew its media rights for the NBA. Amazon, NBC, and ESPN became partners in a historic $76 billion media rights deal.  It was a huge win for the league and the player who would certainly see the max increase in the salary cap yearly. But what about the fans?

“I think the NBA is like we’re just going to take the most money. They weren’t concerned about number one, our show which they didn’t have to. They weren’t really concerned about the fans. They just took the most money. $2.5 billion a year from NBC, from ESPN, from Amazon for the next 11 years. So the players are set for the next eleven years. And god bless them. But the NBA didn’t think about hey how are the NBA fans, they’ve seen the two same networks for the last 40 years. What nights everything is going to be on,” he said on The Howard Eskin Show.

Fans have raised their complaints. With three partners, fans have to spend more than ever before to catch regular NBA action. The League Pass is a one-stop-for-all medium. However, fans have also criticised the technical difficulties they face when using the pass. Furthermore, they lost a significant connection to Inside the NBA.

With TNT, they had set days. Every Tuesday and Thursday, fans knew exactly what time the multiple time Emmy award-winning show would air. ESPN’s gesture allowed the continuity of the show. But their appearances have become sporadic, which has bothered Barkley.

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Charles Barkley is still unhappy about the scheduling

Charles Barkley has been very vocal about his criticism of ESPN. He didn’t appreciate Inside the NBA only appearing a handful of times to start the season. That has changed. The show is going to air more frequently to close out the regular season and head into the playoffs. However, Barkley will most likely face some ramifications from next season onwards.

“I wish they had did a better job of slicing it out for the season. I mean, through December and January, we only worked two days. But now they are making it up. We are working every day this week, which is fine. We’re talking about basketball, it’s not like it’s a real job. But I wish they had did a better job of spreading it out, splashing it up, whatever words you want to use,” he said.

On a positive note, Charles Barkley is also thrilled to be a part of ESPN. The network has exclusive rights to cover the NBA Finals. Throughout Inside the NBA’s decorated run, they never got the chance to cover the biggest series of the season. Likewise, Barkley is eager to do so.

“I’m going to work the Finals for the first time which is pretty cool. And I’m looking forward to that because I’ve never worked the Finals before,” Barkley added.

This is still the first season Inside the NBA airs on ESPN. Understandably, incorporating them alongside the network’s regular coverage needs greater planning. There’s hope that going forward, these inconveniences will be dealt with. Because, even though Chuck takes some digs at them at times, he’s living his dream.