Charles Barkley hopes ESPN fires him over his joke about Cardi B’s boobs.
“I’m hoping they fire me,” Barkley joked during an appearance on Fox Sports Radio on Wednesday. “I got six or seven years left on my contract that they know I got no chance of doing. I would love for them to fire me and have to pay me for the next six or seven years.”
Barkley was referring to his reaction to Cardi B’s halftime performance during Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
“I don’t know if those are B’s. They might be Cardi D’s,” Barkley laughed on air. “I’m pretty sure those aren’t B’s. She’s got the wrong initials.”
“I would love to get fired, I’m not gonna lie. Because there’s zero chance I’m gonna be working the next six or seven years, zero,” Barkley continued on Wednesday.
“Come on, man. People can’t take a joke? They can kiss my ass. I appreciate all the support I’ve gotten all these years, but if anybody thinks everybody likes them, they’re a fool. So if people don’t like me or don’t have a sense of humor, they can kiss my ass. My whole ass, not just one cheek. The whole ass.”
For the record, Barkley was saying he wouldn’t work another six or seven years even six or seven years ago. As much as he jokes about finding ways to get fired, he still appears to genuinely enjoy his work on “Inside the NBA,” which is serving as the studio show before, during, and after the NBA Finals on ABC for the first time.
In a best-of-both-worlds scenario, Barkley now appears on ESPN platforms without actually working for the company. “Inside the NBA” remains a TNT production that ESPN licenses without editorial control, similar to the “Pat McAfee Show.”
And even if ESPN could fire Barkley, it wouldn’t.
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Not only is this the first time Barkley has appeared on NBA Finals coverage, but it’s also the first time in years that ESPN and its viewers seem genuinely satisfied with the network’s studio show.
For more than a decade, ESPN has tried to build a pregame and halftime show capable of competing with TNT’s “Inside the NBA.” The network cycled through nearly every major basketball personality on its roster, including Magic Johnson, Michael Wilbon, Stephen A. Smith, Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose. None of the combinations worked.
ESPN also shuffled through a long list of hosts. Sage Steele came the closest to stabilizing the show, but the network later turned to Michele Beadle, Maria Taylor and then Malika Andrews. It even planned to elevate Rachel Nichols before she was demoted for her white skin color in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. No, seriously. That’s what happened.
Finally, ESPN had an opportunity to ditch its in-house production and license “Inside the NBA” after TNT bypassed renewing its NBA rights past the 2025 season.
As expected, “Inside the NBA” has dramatically improved ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage. Barkley remains the show’s biggest star.
Thus, any jokes about Cardi B’s boobs or the “big ol’ women of San Antonio” will be tolerated — as they should.
