Charles Barkley dares ESPN to fire him: ‘Going to do what I want’

Like nan fire-breathing Pat McAfee earlier him, Charles Barkley is not going to reside down his rhetoric aliases make claims that he doesn’t judge for nan use of ESPN.

Barkley already is daring ESPN to occurrence him earlier his first quality connected nan web that will return complete “Inside nan NBA” adjacent season.

“I’m not going to alteration my personality,” Barkley said during an section of Outkick’s “Don’t @ Me pinch Dan Dakich,” according to Awful Announcing.

“Ain’t cipher — they can’t occurrence me. I make excessively overmuch money to get fired. So, they can’t occurrence me. First of all, if they occurrence me, they sewage to salary maine for 7 years, and I’m going to discontinue measurement earlier then. But if they want to occurrence me, I would emotion for them to do that. The only determination we’ve been making is really agelong I’m going to work… I’m not worried astir getting fired. And cipher astatine ESPN is going to show maine what to opportunity aliases do. Period.”

Charles Barkley during a unrecorded position of “Inside nan NBA,” featuring a livestream of nan play opener New York Knicks astatine Boston Celtics crippled and unrecorded euphony astatine City Hall Plaza. Boston Globe via Getty Images

ESPN will statesman licensing “Inside The NBA” adjacent season aft TNT Sports mislaid its NBA broadcast rights. Barkley reportedly signed a 10-year, $210 cardinal statement successful 2022 to beryllium an expert connected nan champion hoops pregame and postgame show.

But Barkley doesn’t sound for illustration he is willing successful doing appearances connected “Get Up,” “First Take,” “SportsCenter” aliases immoderate different ESPN programming erstwhile he joins.

Especially not if he is sharing nan airwaves pinch ESPN’s NBA expert Kendrick Perkins.

“I’m going to do what I want to do,” Barkley said. “Nobody’s going to show maine what to say, aliases what to do. I get upset. [ESPN] is like, ‘The Lakers are contenders.’ I’m like, ‘No, they’re not.’ They cognize they’re not contenders.

Charles Barkley attends Kenny âThe Jetâ Smith and EMPIRE All-Star Charity Poker Tournament and Bash sponsored by Saratoga® Spring Water connected February 14, 2025 successful San Francisco, California. Getty Images for Saratoga® Spring Water

“Kendrick Perkins, who don’t cognize his ass from a spread successful nan wall, he’s like, ‘The Lakers are contenders. The Lakers are contenders.’ And I said, ‘They’re not contenders.’ And, clearly, if you suffer successful nan first information [of nan playoffs], you aren’t a contender.”

Barkley said he was going to discontinue aft this play but is sticking astir “to make judge nan group I emotion and activity pinch for nan past 25 years (at TNT) sewage a job” aft nan web change. 

“That’s 1 that’s been very absorbing and frustrating for me; we really person nary thought really this is going to work,” Barkley said. The conception that I’m going to activity much arsenic I get older, that’s conscionable not going to happen.”