With Charles Barkley and the rest of the “Inside the NBA” crew back on air for ESPN after a long absence, basketball fans can expect the NBA legend to provide more hilarious snippets.
Sure enough, the former NBA Most Valuable Player is back to being the gift that keeps on giving in front of the camera.
On Wednesday, Charles Barkley took a jab at ESPN after NBA insider Shams Charania got cut off by a technical issue while talking to the Inside the NBA crew.
Charania managed to get across a few words before his screen went out on the broadcast, giving Barkley an instant material to mock the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
“ESPN pay your bills, man… I know times are tough,” Barkley said.
You can watch the hilarious moment here:
"ESPN pay your bills, man… I know times are tough"
Charles Barkley after Shams Charania's feed got cut off on the pregame show 💀
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/tnVT9bnjLD
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 28, 2026
Without getting anything meaningful from Charania because of the technical issue, Kenny Smith tried to fill the gap by talking about Charania's hair and even the decorations in the background.
It doesn't really take much for Barkley, Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal to work up a topic, so having dead air has always been the least of their show's problems. For what it's worth, unexpected occurrences like the one they just had with Charania while being live on air are arguably where they shine the most.
Barkley's trolling of ESPN also came on the heels of him airing his discontent about the frequency of Inside the NBA's appearances, as he feels the company is underutilizing the show.
