Charles Barkley has divulged his reasoning behind turning down a minimum of $100 million in order to remain with Turner Sports for the foreseeable future.

Charles Barkley claims he turned down at least $100 million to stay with TNT Sports (Image: Getty)

Charles Barkley has provided more insight into his decision to stick with Turner Sports. During a recent appearance on the Dan Le Batard Show, the 61-year-old revealed that he left a minimum of $100 million “on the table” in order to stay loyal to his colleagues at Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports division.

During the NBA Finals back in June, Barkley stated that the 2024-25 season would be the last one he covers on TV, regardless of whether or not TNT retained the league’s television rights. But he soon after had a change of heart, announcing last week that he’d be staying with Turner Sports – despite the NBA’s 11-year media rights deal with Amazon Prime Video, NBC and The Walt Disney Company that’s set to begin in 2025.

“The No. 1 thing for me is my people at Turner get to keep their jobs for at least another year,” Barkley told Le Batard. “That’s all I was concerned with.”

Before Barkley pledged his loyalty to Turner Sports, ESPN, NBC and Amazon were all expected to pursue him once the broadcast company officially loses its NBA television package. While the decision to not join an outside network was quite costly, the Hall of Famer remains confident that he made the right decision.

Interested to learn the exact amount of cash Barkley turned down, Le Batard asked, “How much money do you think you left on the table in making that decision concerned about others?” to which Barkley responded: “A minimum of $100 million.

Charles Barkley joined TNT Sports in 2000 (Image: Getty)

“It was a great feeling and I want to thank all those networks for reaching out to me, it was really humbling and cool,” he continued. “Like I said, Dan, even though they were throwing crazy numbers I was like, ‘Damn,’ but as long as I got my people safe at TNT, man, I feel really good.

“Like I say, they going to pay me to go talk about nothing so I can’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I probably would have had to do an honest day’s work if I went to one of those other networks.”

Earlier this month, Barkley expressed a similar sentiment in a joint statement with TNT, which he joined in 2000. “I love my TNT Sports family,” he said at the time. “My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible.

“We have the most amazing people, and they are the best at what they do. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them both on the shows we currently have and new ones we develop together in the future.

“This is the only place for me. I have to say… I’ve been impressed by the leadership team who is fighting hard and have been aggressive in adding new properties to TNT Sports, which I am very excited about. I appreciate them and all of my colleagues for their continued support, and most importantly our fans. I’m going to give my all as we keep them entertained for years to come.”