Charles Barkley will soon retire from his career in television, the former Auburn basketball star announced Friday on NBATV.

Barkley's announcement comes with the future of "Inside the NBA" in jeopardy. TNT, which airs the popular studio show, is reportedly not among the networks signing media rights deals to continue airing NBA games.

"There's been a lot of noise around our network the last few months," Barkley said after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Finals. "I just want to say I've talked to all the other networks, but I ain't going no where other than TNT. But I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television. I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me. My heart is full with joy and gratitude.

"But I'm going to pass the baton at the end of next year. I hope the NBA stays with TNT. But with me personally − I wanted you guys to hear it from me. Because I'm not doing anymore interviews. Don't y'all be calling, nobody calling me. I'm not talking about this again. ... Next year, I'm going to just retire after 25 years. I just wanted to say thank you and I wanted you to hear it from me first."

Barkley, a 16-year NBA veteran and an 11-time all-star, spent three seasons at Auburn before he was selected No. 5 overall in the 1984 NBA Draft. He had professional stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets.

"Like I said, I don't know what's going to happen (with the media rights)," Barkley said. "I hope we stay with TNT. But I wanted to tell y'all personally, because I'm done doing interviews. ... Next year is going to be a great year no matter what happens. Thank you NBA people and TNT and NBATV and everybody."

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Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Charles Barkley says next NBA season will be his last on television