Rumors

Charles Barkley is coming off his best celebrity golf performance ever but remains the biggest long shot in the field to win this week's American Century Championship at South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Barkley's odds? 7,500-1 at Caesars Sportsbook. Those odds have enticed a select few bettors to invest in the Basketball Hall of Famer with the unusual swing. He finished in a career-best 58th place at last year's tournament. The sportsbook set the over/under on Barkley's finishing position at 65.5 this week. "We have seen a handful of tickets on Barkley to win it all, but we may see those tickets on eBay soon," Anthony Salleroli, lead golf oddsmaker for Caesars Sportsbook, joked in an email to ESPN.

ESPN

Ice Cube: The basketball world really does hold Charles Barkley career over Robert Horry. The way he's treated and the way what he means to basketball. At the end of the day, the fans get it right. The players who were star players that didn't get a championship are treated like superstars.

YouTube

Steve Nash: That’s a great point, because what you’re saying is—no matter what you have, you need more. No matter what. Like, it never ends. LeBron James: And it... I don’t know, man. It’s just like—you sit here and you tell me Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, and Steve Nash weren’t unbelievable? Like, oh, they can’t be talked about or discussed with these guys because that guy won one ring, or two rings, or whatever? That’s just weird to me. It’s like saying Peyton Manning can’t be in the same room with Brady or Mahomes because he only has one ring. They never discuss that in their sport. Or telling me that Dan Marino’s not the greatest slinger of all time, or that he can’t be in the room with those guys because he didn’t win a championship.

YouTube

Dime: Charles Barkley: "What is the deal with Siakam? Why he go from passive to aggressive from game to game?" Tyrese Haliburton: "I don't think that's a fair assessment..." Grant Hill: "And Chuck, that's a polite way of saying he doesn't agree with you."

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Awful Announcing: Charles Barkley: "The Knicks gotta be the stupidest damn people in the world." 🏀🎙️ #NBA #NBAFinals

Twitter

Much has been made over the last year about whether the iconic show may actually be a bad thing for the NBA product, as its hosts frequently malign the current state of the league and often inadvertently reveal that they aren't actually watching the games. Recently, NBA commissioner Adam Silver stopped by the Dan Patrick Show and addressed this issue, specifically as it pertains to Charles Barkley. “I’m down there a fair amount at their studio in Atlanta, I mean he’s watching the games. They made a decision to take an entertainment route with that studio show. ESPN was always about more hardcore basketball,” said Silver. “NBC was somewhere in the middle in the old days, but it’s an entertainment show and he’s entertaining and fans seem to love it. You know sometimes he’s a bit of the crazy uncle I think.”

Clutch Points

Elsewhere in the segment, Bet-David referenced internet rumors that NBC is paying Jordan $40 million annually. A source tells Front Office Sports that this number, which is about twice what Charles Barkley makes per year from TNT, is inaccurate.

Front Office Sports

NBA TV will offer nightly studio coverage of the NBA Finals. GameTime Live at the Finals will feature analysts such as Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith of TNT’s iconic Inside the NBA, as well as Grant Hill, Isiah Thomas, Candace Parker, Steve Smith, Brendan Haywood, and Channing Frye.

Front Office Sports

The final episode of Inside the NBA barely finished airing on TNT Sports before doomsayers like Bill Simmons were predicting ESPN will ruin the show. But I’m hearing from sources that ESPN has zero plans to change the iconic show’s DNA. No, you’re not going to see Charles Barkley riding a Booger-mobile on the sidelines. Or Shaquille O’Neal & Co. wearing canary-yellow vests emblazoned with the ABC logo. TNT will retain full editorial control. So expect to see the same funny, bombastic, basketball show that’s earned 21 Sports Emmy Awards during its historic run.

Front Office Sports

Charles Barkley joined The Dan Patrick Show Monday morning and said he committed to doing two more years with TNT, and subsequently ESPN. But with Inside the NBA set to air on ESPN, TNT is building a show featuring Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson that will air on their network. And according to Barkley, it’s not going well.

Awful Announcing

“TNT is trying to do something stupid behind the scenes,” Barkley told Patrick. “We taped a pilot about a month ago and it was the stupidest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life. Cause we’re not gonna be on ESPN as much as people think…we’re only probably gonna be working for ESPN like half the time.”

Awful Announcing

Barkley said the new installment of Inside the NBA will be called Inside the NBA on ESPN/ABC and told Patrick the pilot for TNT was also called Inside the NBA. But Outside the NBA might be a better name for the pending TNT show. “You know the thing that was hilarious about it, Dan? We didn’t have any NBA,” Barkley said of the pilot. “We can’t show highlights.”

Awful Announcing

“Charles (Barkley), it has been my experience with him, he loves talking about sports,” Mike Greenberg said. “He does a ton of shows. I think what he doesn't want is for it to be like ‘Okay, this is your schedule. You're gonna do this show and then this show and then this show, this is what you're gonna to do.' I think that's what he doesn't want.”

Clutch Points

CJ Fogler: Charles Barkley: "Why you be getting them dumb fouls?" KAT: "God only knows"

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