Charles Barkley says Kobe Bryant was hired for 'Inside the NBA' after retirement
Charles Barkley revealed some surprising information during his recent appearance on "The Draymond Green Show." The late, great Kobe Bryant was almost on "Inside the NBA."
Barkley told the whole story during his interview, which he said only 10 people in the world know about. According to him, TNT signed Kobe to be on "Inside the NBA" after he retired, but it never ended up happening because he wasn't into doing all the other stuff that comes with being on a show, like press junkets, radio interviews, and so on.
"We actually hired Kobe Bryant"
Charles Barkley tells @Money23Green the whole story: https://t.co/dMWlJX4N8B pic.twitter.com/NcwHgV8zBP— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) March 2, 2022
“Not many people know this and I’m probably going to get in trouble for telling you this, but we actually hired Kobe Bryant,” Barkley said. "But he didn’t want to do all the other bulls***.
"He actually signed with us, but then when we started telling him, 'You know, I have to do a bunch of radio shows, I go on this show on Monday, from Thursday night TNT, same thing on Tuesday, same thing on Wednesday, same thing on Thursday.' And he's like, 'Yeah I don't wanna do all that stuff.'"
Barkley said he told Bryant that if he joined "Inside the NBA," he wouldn't really have a choice; he'd have to do all those things to promote the show. And according to Chuck, "all the other bulls***" is why Bryant never joined "Inside the NBA."
It's hard to picture Kobe fitting in with the entertainingly argumentative quartet of Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Barkley. Though it would have been amazing to see him try. Would he have started his own arguments with Shaq and Chuck? Would he have chosen sides in any one of their numerous differences of opinion? Or would he have tried to broker peace?
It would have been fun to see how he fit in at the desk, but in the end it's not surprising he didn't join the crew. Once Bryant retired he was focused on spending time with his wife and daughters. The show, as well as the promotional responsibilities that came with it, would have taken him away from that, which was probably the last thing he wanted after a 20-year career that had kept him away from home more often than not.
