Charles Barkley: Returning to TNT cost me ‘a minimum $100 million’

Broadcasting free agency was a “humbling” experience for Charles Barkley, who left “at minimum $100 million” on the table to return to Turner Sports amid uncertainty surrounding TNT’s NBA space.

When appearing on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” on Tuesday, Barkley was asked about his commitment to TNT following June’s shocking retirement bombshell as speculation swirled whether parent company Warnes Bros. Discovery would lose its NBA media rights after the 2024-25 season.

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

Le Batard then asked Barkley the apparent nine-figure question.

“How much money do you think you left on the table in making that decision concerned about others?” Le Batard said, to which Barkley replied, “A minimum of $100 million.”

“It was a great feeling and I want to thank all those networks for reaching out to me, it was really humbling and cool. … 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,” the Hall of Famer, 61, said.