Charles Barkley has temporarily shifted to NCAA basketball at work as TNT holds the media rights to March Madness. He joined Dick Vitale on the sidelines to call the Texas Longhorns vs. NC. State game in the First Four tonight.
Before the game, Barkley spoke to Bruce Pearl in the TNT studio and took a hilarious jab at his employers for being cheap with their security systems in the studio.
“One of my prerequisites for working on this game was that I didn’t want to be in the studio with you. Man, some people are looking for you, Bruce, and I didn’t want to get beaten up because I was sitting beside you.”
“Let me tell you something about TNT security,” Barkley said. “You can go into Kenny’s and Shaq’s lockers and steal anything. We all got the same damn code.”
“If you want to go in Shaq, Kenny, and my lockers and steal something, feel free. That’s how cheap they are. Those people at TNT, they are so secure with security; they gave everybody the same damn code,” Barkley hilariously concluded.
Bruce Pearl recently struck some nerves with his comments about the undefeated Miami (Ohio) RedHawks when he claimed that they don’t deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. Subsequently, the Athletic Director of that school called out Pearl for being biased towards Auburn even after retirement.
“@coachbrucepearl, you are flat out wrong about @MiamiOH_BBall when u say we would finish last in the Big East. The disrespect is awful, and you should not be near a TV studio covering this sport when u show your true colors! Even slipped in a ‘we’ when talking about Auburn, nice work!” wrote the Director on X.
Hence, Barkley anticipates that Pearl is vulnerable to getting beaten up and wants to stay away from him for his own safety.
Barkley’s comments seem to be a combination of fear for his own safety and a vent for his pent-up frustration with TNT for not shelling out the required money to get the NBA media rights. The NBA legend has repeatedly indicated that while he’s close to the crew of the show, he has several grievances with their upper management.
Barkley is in the fourth year of his 10-year, $210 million contract with TNT. He has also indicated that he does not plan to see out the entire contract as he is growing old.
Charles Barkley has always been famous for having no filter when he speaks, so this candor from him is not surprising. But it will be interesting to see how far he can test TNT’s patience before they take some measures against such conduct, which they could perceive as detrimental to their reputation.
