Charles Barkley is going to speak his truth.
The NBA on TNT analyst basically dared ESPN to fire him, even before the Worldwide Leader licenses Inside the NBA starting next season. And as he insists that men don’t belong in women’s sports, he’s also telling ESPN that it isn’t going to tell him what to do or say.
He’s also not going to spar with Stephen A. Smith on First Take — but that was probably pre-ordained before Smith started floating his presidential aspirations. Barkley doesn’t want to go through the ESPN “car wash,” and he doesn’t want to dilute his presence on the airwaves.
Smith might as well already be living there.
And as ESPN’s $100 million man continues his tour of every cable news outlet on the dial, he’s not exactly endearing himself to Barkley.
We already know how Barkley feels about Smith teasing a White House run.
He’s a “hard no” on voting for Smith in 2028. In fact, he told Jimmy Traina that he’d only vote for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the party would lose his support as an Independent voter forever. Factor in Smith, and Barkley might not vote ever again.
“Stephen A.’s a friend of mine, but he needs to stop right now,” Barkley said on Outkick’s Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich. “My friends close to me give me a lot of credit. And I’m not blowing my own horn, I want to be on TV as less as possible, to be honest with you. That’s why I only do a couple of commercials a year. I don’t go on a bunch of shows. Less is more. Because the more you do, the less people take you serious. And I don’t feel the need to grab every dime at my disposal. Like, I’ve been arguing with my agent. He says, ‘We can do five to seven commercials a year.’ I said, ‘We’re going to do two commercials a year — that’s it. I don’t want to be on TV all the time.”
Stephen A. Smith does.
“I get sick of seeing myself doing March Madness all the time,” Barkley adds. “But, I don’t want to be on TV all the time. I don’t do a bunch of TV stuff… because people get sick of you. That’s my No. 1 thing. People will get sick of you. So, I don’t want to be on TV more. I want to be on TV less.”
That’s not in Smith’s nature.
“As a matter of fact, I was in the studio last night, and I see he’s going to be on Law and Order tonight,” Barkley said. “I mean, he’s already on General Hospital. Now, he’s going to be on Law and Order tonight. I was just laughing. I’m like, ‘Yo, man, you’re starting to be too much right now. You’re going to be on CNN. You’re going to be on Fox and Friends. Now, you’re at the General Hospital. Now, you’re on Law and Order.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, man, knock it off. Stop being on every TV show.’ Because at some point, people are going to get sick of you, and you’re going to be like, ‘Yeah, I probably did too much.’ But once you do too much, it’s too late. And then people don’t take you seriously. And I think he’s gotta be careful in that aspect.”
If that’s how Barkley feels about Stephen A., it’s a miracle he hasn’t broken his TV watching Shaq pitch everything from car insurance to Icy Hot.