NBA legend and current analyst Charles Barkley is declaring that the 2026-27 NBA season will be his last on Inside the NBA before he retires.
In an interview with Davis Baker of WSFA 12 News, Barkley said that he intends to “take a step back from public life” after this year. He said that he’s had a great run and enjoyed the journey then offered thanks to everyone.
“I’m looking forward to this last year,” Barkley said. “TV has been great to me. I’m gonna take a step back from public life. I’m gonna always come to Auburn, though. I wanted to make that perfectly clear. People ask me, and I say, yeah, I’m stepping back from public life after this year.”
Barkley said that longtime host Ernie Johnson asked him to stay a few more years two years ago. He said he treated last year as one and will treat this year as the second and final of those “more years.”
“It’s been a great run,” Barkley continued. “It’s been a great journey. I thank everybody for their support all these years, but I’ll be 64 years old. Ernie asked me to stay a couple more years. Last year was one, this year is two. But I feel really good. This is going to be more like a celebration, because, man, I’ve had the greatest life a person can have.”
Fans Have Their Doubts
As heartfelt as that declaration might have been for Barkley, fans in the replies said that they’ve heard those lines before and think Barkley is just angling for a new contract.
“This has been his last year for 4 years. But hope Charles lives how he wants,” one user remarked.
“More retirements than Terry Funk,” another joked.
“Must be contract time,” a third said.
“Congrats to Sir Charles on his fourteenth retirement from television.”
“I’ll believe it when the NBA playoffs start without him,” Ryan Glasspiegel wrote.
“He’s said this every time the contract is on the verge of negotiations.”
Mike Kirschbaum/Getty Images
Suffice it to say, fans have certainly heard the line before and it’s hard for some to believe that this time is truly the last time he’ll be a mainstay on television.
But if it is, he’ll go down as a legend in sports media on top of already being a legend in the NBA.
