$15 million annually keeps Shaquille O’Neal with Charles Barkley and Inside the NBA crew
Shaquille O'Neal's contract with TNT was expriring after this NBA season as Inside the NBA moves into new era.
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Shaquille O'Neal to continue working with Charles Barkley and Inside the NBA
TNT lost a chance to net a portion of the NBA’s lucrative media-rights deal. However, their most important show, Inside the NBA will continue after their parent company Warner Bros. Discovery brokered a deal with ESPN. That meant, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and the rest of the crew would continue to entertain fans.
With that deal done, fans breathed a sigh of relief as they knew that ESPN would broadcast the Inside the NBA show. Soon, it was evident that there was a small problem they were yet to fix. O’Neal was not happy that the networks announced their tie-up before his future was secured.
It so happened that with TNT’s media-rights expiring after this season, the NBA exclusive Shaquille O’Neal was also facing an expiring contract. That meant, his contract had to be renewed if the quartet are to continue working.
With Charles Barkley making more than $20 million annually, keeping the Big Aristotle was not going to be cheap. However, for someone worth nearly $500 million, surpassing his colleague was not a priority. Even then, he would want to be sufficiently compensated.
Shaquille O’Neal has an agreement in place for an enormous long-term deal with TNT Sports that will pay him over $15 million per year, Front Office Sports has learned.
Front Office Sports revealed
Front Office Sports learnt from their sources that O’Neal’s contract was one of the biggest question marks as the show heads to ESPN. They do not have the exact duration of the deal, but going by what Barkley has signed, his colleague must have asked for a similar length.
Shaquille O’Neal to continue as NBA only with Inside the NBA crew
Shaquille O’Neal could have had offers lining up for him. He has worked with ESPN before, and he could have received deals larger than the $15 million TNT will pay him. However, it seems the quartet decided to continue doing the show together.
Charles Barkley has already declined offers from NBC and Amazon as he looks towards retiring with TNT. However, he also is a part of NCAA’s March Madness analysis along with host Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith. They have been covering college basketball for a long time and are fully aware of the happenings in that game.
However, the four-time NBA Champion will continue to work on NBA content only. He will not join the college basketball coverage with the rest of his colleagues. Instead, when they head to cover March Madness, O’Neal will be the lead analyst for Inside the NBA as he does on its Tuesday’s edition.
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Joseph Varghese
(2483 Articles Published)