Charles Barkley, 63, has long been blunt about life after sports, once saying that continuing to work past age 60 is something he considers foolish — a stance he’s repeated more than once.
When Does Barkley Plan To Retire?
The comment first surfaced during a 2015 interview with Sports Illustrated and recently gained new attention after being highlighted again by Basketball Network.
Barkley’s perspective is rooted in his beliefs about financial security and quality of life, emphasizing that athletes who’ve earned substantial wealth should prioritize enjoying life rather than continuing to work indefinitely.
“One of the great travesties in sports is 70 percent of professional athletes go broke. It’s a joke and it pisses me off,” he said. “But I tell all my friends who don’t play sports, ‘Who wants to work when you are 65 or 70?’ Sixty is my magic number. I just turned 52 and I’m not working past 60.”
At the time, “Inside the NBA” — a TNT studio show that debuted in 1989 — featured Barkley as a co-host alongside Ernie Johnson Jr., Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. Barkley joined the program in 2000 and became one of its defining voices.
In 2015, there was speculation that Barkley might leave the show when his contract expired.
However, he re-signed after a personal pitch from Turner executives, who visited his home, presented a tribute video, and offered flexible roles, including opportunities beyond basketball coverage.
The TNT executives charmed the beloved former Phoenix Suns player with $1,700 of wine and tequila, followed by “a six-hour Italian feast featuring two magnums of 2009 Bond Estates St Eden Napa Valley Red, two bottles of 1942 Don Julio tequila and plates of pasta and meatballs,” according to Sports Illustrated.
Barkley affirmed that money was not his priority, stating, “The money at this stage of my life does not matter. We are not haggling or negotiating. Do the deal.”
The deal was made, and he stayed on the program.
The second time Barkley expressed that he was too old for Inside the NBA was in 2021, during his appearance on 106.7 The Fan’s Grant and Danny show, when he was 58, according to theScore.
“I’m trying to hang on for another couple years till I’m 60, and then they can kiss my ass,” he said. “I’m only working till 60, I’ve already told them that. I said, ‘I’m not working till the day I die, that’s just stupid.’ And if I don’t have enough money by now, I’m an idiot anyway, so they should fire me anyway.”
Barkley remained with TNT for years, and the show continued to air on the network.
By the fall of 2025, TNT had lost its NBA broadcast rights to ESPN and ABC under Disney, and “Inside the NBA” moved to the new network to end its long run on TNT.
Barkley has an estimated net worth of $60 million.
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