“What Are They Gonna Do, Fire Us?”– Charles Barkley Is Already Roasting TNT During His Final Year

I'm not a big NBA guy but the return on basketball means the return of TNT's Inside The NBA for its final season, and that is something I can get excited for. For years, the team of Shaq, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley has been far and away the best sports analysis show on the air. Sure, the basketball knowledge of three former players, two being hall of famers, is hard to match but what really makes this a top tier watch is the constant joking and good times had by the four. Granted, most of the tomfoolery comes from Shaq and Barkley, who are pure comedy every time they open their mouths. Remember when the Shaq couldn't hold it together at Barkley's "juggling two balls" comment or when the Round Mound of Rebound got in a feud with the city of Galveston, Texas? And of course, there's those San Antonio women... https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1784346523045704069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1784346523045704069%7Ctwgr%5E6e7ed07af476a6f2e6317f5aaa541b2d162b0fb5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F04%2F29%2Fthat-dirty-a-water-charles-barkley-is-currently-in-a-social-media-feud-with-galveston-texas%2F Unfortunately, Charles Barkley announced he would be retiring following this season after news of the NBA selling their rights to Amazon instead of renewing the contract with TNT, something that still doesn't sit well with Barkley (or anyone, really), though we really should commend Sir Charles for passing on many lucrative offers from other networks, turning down at least $100 million so his people at Turner could keep their jobs for at least another year. I was wondering how the impending shutdown of the program would affect the content and last night we saw for the first time a hint that the guys may be even more loose-lipped this year... Late last night, around 12:30am, NBA coverage was still going on, meaning the guys had to stay at the desk a bit longer, but everyone was apparently pretty tired and began talking about walking out at exactly 1am. Apparently someone asked for the time and Barkley said it was 12:29, leading Kenny Smith to say they'd be out of there by 1. Barkley, ever the realist, then said: "We walking out of here at one o'clock." Kenn response by saying "If you don't walk with me..." but Barkley had his back: "I gotcha brother. I gotchu. What are they gonna do? What are they gonna do, fire us?" The look of pure shock and laughter that ripped across everyone's faces just warms my heart. I hope Barkley is a loose cannon this year and just let's everything rip. Heck, why not? They've got nothing to lose at this point so why not make it a legendary run to the finish line? https://twitter.com/gifdsports/status/1849670994832626046