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The Barkley Sweepstakes

As NBC Sports closes in on the NBA “B package,” executives and agents are beginning to contemplate who will lead the broadcasts and studio shows. And whom to pick off from TNT if Zaz is unable to wrest the final package away from Amazon.

charles barkley
Barkley, who is widely viewed by executives as a singular talent in sports broadcasting, is highly coveted by ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. Photo: Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
May 30, 2024

On Tuesday, shortly before Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals between the Timberwolves and the Mavericks tipped off, a source who works closely with TNT’s Inside the NBA sought to convey a sense of the pall that had descended upon Studio J in Atlanta. “Everybody wants the Mavs to sweep,” the source told me. “Everybody wants this series to end.”