BARKLEY WILL BRING BACK VIEWERS TO ESPN BUT NOT WITHOUT HARSH POTSHOTS

At some point, America may tire of Charles vs. the world, yet because the league still wants him up front, he makes a channel shift with “Inside the NBA” and will fire on a network he never has liked

     Why would Charles Barkley ever change? I stared at him in a Scottsdale bar when he stood with a beer in the corner, waiting for a line of women to kiss him. Everyone lined up for the ride, from Surprise to Apache Junction. One night in Chicago, as the Bulls were preparing for another NBA championship, he sensed the National Guard was coming and said, “They boarded up all the stores. They were getting the military ready.”

     He’s still alive years later. And now that he’s at ESPN, why would Barkley do anything but awaken a network that regressed from news-definitive to a gambling smut hall? His show, “Inside the NBA,’’ will appear on Disney in a carriage that will prompt poor Walt to tumble again. Remember, TNT still controls the program. That means anything is possible on a channel that already lets Pat McAfee spew — for wee ratings — and thrives on Shams Charania’s team-fed scoops more than legitimate Emmy awards.

     Charles will bash superstars and the Golden State Warriors. He will offer to gamble more than the millions he already has lost. He will bash Stephen A. Smith, who will smash back. This is not sports commentary. It’s bozo retention. At some point, America will tire of it all. Not yet, evidently, as he won’t be censored by ESPN.

     At least Barkley doesn’t have to retire. An entertainment jolly continues through TNT, which won’t be airing NBA games in the U.S. starting next season. Commissioner Adam Silver was right: Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal would have more room to amplify. Never mind that Barkley hasn’t liked ESPN throughout his career. Recently, he said on Paul George’s podcast, “They never give anybody a chance to get any chemistry. They’re all kind of throwing stuff at the wall … and then they’re like, ‘It didn’t work.’ Well, you didn’t give it a chance to work.”

     He has taken apart ESPN’s talent, including basketball analyst Kendrick Perkins, and is sure to do the same in a twisting on-air climate. He will continue to turn the ways and means of American sports into a nightly nuclear stack. Many will watch him. But what will you see other than Barkley fumigating? He’s 61. Jeff Van Gundy had more to say at the same age and was laid off.

     With too many softies on network coverage — including those who join Mike Breen on games and whatever NBC is doing with Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle and Amazon with Ian Eagle — Barkley will bring too much grist and bulk. It would be nice if he toned it down, but that isn’t what Jimmy Pitaro wants as ESPN’s chairman.

     “Inside the NBA is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” he said in a statement. “We have long admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of ‘Inside the NBA’ further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”

     No, it’s a place for social-media groupies to post whatever Barkley says next. It is not preeminent. Last I saw Barkley, he was shouting at me in an elevator filled with people in Los Angeles. He knew me from working at ESPN. Someday, I figured he would work for ESPN. At some point, he’ll face Perkins, who questioned if Barkley and O’Neal even watched games.

     “First of all, listen, don’t bring up a guy who averaged five points a game,” Barkley said. “I’m not gonna stoop to his level. You average five points a game. Shut the hell up!”

     This is what we accept as sports commentary in an industry worth almost a trillion dollars. It will work on ESPN because Pitaro has little else to offer. Few of us watch the network unless a good game is available. Now Chuck will rip everyone during the NBA Finals, the conference finals, the postseason, Christmas Day and in between.

     Culturally impactful? It beats Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve. Congratulations to one and all for not telling us why the Cleveland Cavaliers are 15-0 and the Philadelphia 76ers are 2-11. Isn’t it time for another DUI involving Barkley and a woman who sought a sex act? Think I’m kidding?

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.