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Charles Barkley Doesn't Hold Back His Thoughts On ESPN

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 4:26 PM ET

Charles Barkley clearly isn't concerned about entering a potential working relationship with ESPN on cordial terms.

With TNT losing NBA media rights, Inside The NBA will move to ESPN next season. Although Barkley has backtracked on retirement talk and rejected overtures from NBC and Amazon Prime, he has expressed concerns about his potential work schedule at ESPN.

Most people would probably play nice before the major network switch. Barkley, on the other hand, took more unprovoked shots at ESPN.

During Wednesday's interview on The Dan Patrick Show, Barkley criticized ESPN's constant coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers.

"The Lakers aren't a good team," Barkley said. "They got two really, really good players, but they're not a good team. ESPN just swings on them like everything tastes like chicken, but the Lakers are not a good team. They're going to lose either this round or the next round, but more likely this round."

Barkley added that ESPN keeps "swinging on them like they were damn King Kong."

"The clowns at ESPN, they always make me laugh," Barkley told Patrick, who reminded Barkley that he could be working for The Worldwide Leader next season. "Dan, you know I'm going to be a straight shooter."

This isn't the first time Barkley has mocked ESPN's coverage of the Lakers. In early March, he called Kendrick Perkins an "idiot and a fool" for saying the Lakers saved the NBA season by acquiring Luka Doncic.

"That's because of them fools at the other network, which we're going to be working at next year, that's all they talk about," Barkley said.

Barkley blasted ESPN for focusing excessively on the Lakers and Golden State Warriors while ignoring the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder. He added that they "talk about the same stuff every single day" before admonishing the "lame ass" debate of whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest basketball player ever.

"I've said it for years, the only people talking about LeBron and Michael is people on television who got no talent to talk about anything else," Barkley said.

It may only be a matter of time before Barkley makes these rants on ESPN airwaves.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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