Charles Barkley could go 'wherever he wants' if TNT loses NBA rights with ESPN, Amazon, and NBC all interested in signing the legend

With Warner Brothers-Discovery facing the possibility of losing the rights to the NBA, the future of Charles Barkley hangs in the balance.

Barkley, the 61-year-old Hall-of-Famer, is one of the top analysts in the league and the likelihood of him missing out on a season due to loyalty to the company he currently works at could be low.

In a discussion between The Athletic's sports media analysts Richard Deitsch and Andrew Marchand, they hypothetically asked where Barkley might go.

Marchand replied, 'Wherever he wants. I know ESPN, Amazon and NBC are interested in him, according to executives briefed on their plans. 

'If TNT Sports loses the NBA, I’m not sure Barkley is just totally free to do whatever he wants — though it might end up that way — especially if he continues to go after Warner Bros. Discovery chairman David Zaslav.

'WBD Sports still has the NCAA Tournament, which Barkley works on, and other events where they could use him. Barkley has said he can just leave on his own accord. 

'There have been no real discussions on how Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith could stay together, but there will be. If it is ESPN, Amazon and NBC, they will all surely listen.

'But driving it all will be Barkley. He might receive a huge offer and just go do that on his own. He’s the best sports studio analyst ever, so he has a lot of power. What do you think?'

Deitsch replied, 'Everyone who loves that show is probably hoping they’ll end up being packaged somewhere, even for a year. 

'That’s a tough ask, and here is what’s not often discussed: The show would change in some ways given you would not hire everyone working behind the scenes. 

'Long-term, the new NBA media players will likely want to create their own signature NBA studio show given the length of the contract, but any “Inside the NBA” connection for a partner would give that partner instant studio credibility.

'As you said, Barkley can go wherever he wants. An educated guess is that any number will be closer to $20 million annually than $10 million. If I had to handicap a non-WBD player, I would cautiously put my money on NBC. Very cautiously.'