Charles Barkley dares ESPN to fire him from 10-year, $210m contract before he's even made his network debut

Charles Barkley insists the NBA's impending determination to ESPN volition not alteration thing astir the mode helium behaves... and he's much than consenting to beryllium fired for airing his views.

The NBA icon is acceptable to articulation his 'Inside the NBA' colleagues successful their determination from TNT to ESPN adjacent season, but volition not beryllium holding backmost connected the stricter network.

Instead, Barkley is adjacent calling ESPN's bluff and daring them to occurrence him earlier he's adjacent made his archetypal quality connected air.

'I'm not going to alteration my personality,' helium told Outkick erstwhile asked whether thing would alteration adjacent season.

'They can't occurrence me! I marque excessively overmuch wealth to get fired. So, they can't occurrence me. First of all, if they occurrence me, they got to wage maine for 7 years, and I'm going to discontinue mode earlier then. 

'But if they privation to occurrence me, I would emotion for them to bash that. The lone determination we've been making is however agelong I'm going to work… I'm not disquieted astir getting fired. And cipher astatine ESPN is going to archer maine what to accidental oregon do. Period.'

Barkley is simply a long-time big connected 'Inside the NBA', which volition beryllium moving from TNT Sports to ESPN aft the second bought the rights to amusement the NBA.

The ex-NBA MVP and 11-time All-Star is said to person signed a 10-year, $210m declaration to beryllium an expert connected the iconic NBA amusement backmost successful 2022, and truthful has plentifulness of years near to go.

ESPN has plentifulness of different shows that volition apt beryllium hopeless to person Barkley connected them, including First Take, Get Up and The Pat McAfee Show, but it appears helium has nary volition of doing much than he's contracted to do. 

'Nobody’s going to archer maine what to say, oregon what to do. I get upset. [ESPN] is like, "The Lakers are contenders." I’m like, "No, they’re not." They cognize they’re not contenders.'

He adjacent took purpose astatine a soon-to-be ESPN colleague, noting: 'Kendrick Perkins, who don’t cognize his ass from a spread successful the wall, he’s like, "The Lakers are contenders. The Lakers are contenders." 

'And I said, "They’re not contenders." And, clearly, if you suffer successful the archetypal circular [of the playoffs], you aren’t a contender.'

Barkley has been precise outspoken astir TNT's nonaccomplishment of the rights to amusement the NBA, initially claiming helium was going to discontinue aft the quality was announced.

He past U-turned 'to marque definite the radical I emotion and enactment with for the past 25 years got a job'.