Suns Legend Rips New NBA TV Deal

Suns legend Charles Barkley, who was affected by the move with Inside The NBA moving from TNT to ESPN, is not a fan of the new TV package.

"I think the NBA's got a big problem," Barkley said to Bill Simmons on The Ringer's Bill Simmons Podcast. "How are regular fans gonna (be) like, 'Okay it's Tuesday, sometimes the game's gonna be on Peacock.

"I think that's going to be a huge dilemma for the NBA. They took all the money from all 3 networks. I don't think they give a s--- about the fans. I think this is going to come back to bite them to be honest with you. The thing that's scary is this deal is for 11 years. People can complain all they want to. For the next 11 years, they don't give a s--- about the fans. They like, 'If y'all find the game, fine. Just make sure the check clears.'"

Simmons also asked Barkley about how the transition to ESPN will work for Inside The NBA, which was given a lot of freedom with TNT.

“We don’t know,” Barkley said. “This has been one of the worst, TNT just sucks to be honest with you, Bill. They made this deal. They haven’t told us when we’re going to work. They haven’t told us how it’s going to work. Because, we’ve been talking behind the scenes, like after the game are we going to get anytime or are they gonna say, ‘Hey, you guys got to go to SportsCenter.’

“That’s the best part of our show. After the game when we can, like, have conversation and have fun. Are they gonna say, ‘You guys got three minutes, five minutes, 15, 20, 30, 45?’ Or are we going to go straight to SportsCenter? They haven’t given us an answer whatsoever. And TNT, I think they sold the show and they haven’t been noncommunicable at all.”

It's safe to say Barkley is not happy with how the NBA handled the transition to its new media rights agreement, which runs all the way through the 2035-36 season.

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