Charles Barkley says he would only join ESPN on one condition

Charles Barkley is not necessarily opposed to joining The Worldwide Leader, but it would have to be on his terms.

Appearing this week on “The Sports Illustrated Media Podcast” with Jimmy Traina, Barkley spoke out on the possibility of him joining ESPN amid the uncertainty with his current employer, TNT, and its ability to retain the rights to the NBA. Barkley said that he may be willing to join ESPN … but only on the condition that it doesn't overwork him.

“They’re not gonna work me like a dog,” he said, per Awful Announcing. “ESPN Radio, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes. I mean, HELL NO! As much as I love ESPN, I just turned 61. The notion that I’m going to be working like a dog into my mid-60s, that’s definitely not going to happen.

“I would have to look at their packages,” Barkley added of ESPN. “I don’t know who’s going to have what so I couldn’t even make an educated guess, even hypothetically. There will be two important questions, what do you have and where you gonna do the show from?”

Barkley has been with TNT since 2000 and has since become part of the network’s iconic “Inside the NBA” quartet along with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. But while Barkley signed a 10-year contract extension with TNT in October 2022, he also recently revealed that he has an opt-out in his contract that he can exercise if TNT loses its NBA rights. (Its current deal expires after the 2024-25 season.) As a result, we have already heard that Barkley could trigger an immense media bidding battle for his services.

Earlier this month, Barkley suggested an interesting idea for the future of “Inside the NBA.” But when it comes to his own possibilities with ESPN, Barkley is open to it, but only on a reasonable workload.