Fans will forever remember Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks on NBA TV as the game when Charles Barkley announced his retirement. From there on, he suggested multiple theories for his next project, such as working with competitors at ESPN, NBC, or Amazon. He even stated the possibility of taking the rights of the show and broadcasting under his production.

But all the retirement ruse has finally come to an end, as Sir Charles will continue with TNT. Although the NBA has announced the new contracts, WBD has taken the legal route to sort the issue. With Adam Silver being a former lawyer, will that play out in the league’s favor? Right now it is assumed that TNT will not feature the NBA starting from the 2025 season, but Barkley will still be a part of TNT.

Charles Barkley will enter the third year of a 10-year, $210 million contract

In a statement from WBD, Charles Barkley said, “I love my TNT Sports family. My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible. We have the most amazing people, and they are the best at what they do. 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.”

John Ourand, a business insider, previously reported that David Zaslav is extremely likely to continue with Charles Barkley. With March Madness and NHL, where Barkley has already appeared, it is understandable that they don’t want him to leave. It was very much confirmed by the statement of TNT CEO Luis Silberwasser.

“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.” With his future secured, Barkley will continue with his mega-money contract, which he signed back in 2022. But where does it leave his best friend and partner in crime, Shaquille O’Neal?

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to split after 14 years?

Shaq on his podcast was coy and, unlike the Philadelphia 76ers legend, he never explicitly expressed his decision. After joining the show in 2011, the Los Angeles Lakers legend will complete his 14th season once the upcoming season ends. After many years of working together, Barkley praised Shaq and the energy that he brought to the studio.

“We had a lot of interesting people. You [Lefkoe] do a wonderful job, looking forward to working with you in the future. I don’t know what our future holds with this TNT thing, but I know we got one year left. So let’s just make it count and then yeah, we’ll see what happens after that,” Shaq said on The Big Podcast.

Previously, Charles Barkley had revealed that Ernie Johnson would probably retire, but he wouldn’t sign with the competitors. Barkley then gave a similar statement, but Kenny Smith refused to believe it. As per Smith, he did not consider it since Barkley never spoke to him about the situation. With 1 of the four agreeing to continue, will this lead to a domino effect and others follow suit?

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.