Photo: NBA on TNT/X

Is Charles Barkley retiring? Hold on.

One of his colleagues in the media industry isn’t convinced – Stephen A. Smith suggested it might be a hasty response to the TNT and NBA TV coverage situation.

“I’m not in any way calling Charles Barkley a liar. I think that Charles Barkley is very sincere. I just don’t think it’s gonna happen. I don’t think Charles Barkley is leaving,” Smith said on his podcast earlier this week.

“That is the Charles Barkley you’re hearing right now. A Charles Barkley that loves the people he works with. That loves a lot of the bosses he worked for. That loves some of the colleagues he worked with on the air and behind the scenes. It’s a family over there to him. And he can’t imagine wanting to be somewhere else, working with or for somebody else while those people are looking for a job…” Smith continued.

“I’m not saying he’s lying. I’m saying, don’t believe he’s gone for good. Don’t believe it. I don’t believe it for one second,” he quipped. “His voice is too powerful. It’s too influential, it’s too enjoyable. And he loves the game of basketball too much. He ain’t 80! He’s still got a lot of life left in him. So I don’t think for one second this is gonna be the end. I just think he’s p—-d off at the way colleagues at TNT are being thrown out to pasture.”

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