NBA icon Charles Barkley on Friday said that he will remain at Turner after meeting with officials from the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf league, The New York Post reports.
In an interview earlier this week, Barkley said that he would accept a position in the broadcast booth for LIV if the organization were to "triple" his income. However, after meeting with league officials at an event on Thursday, Barkley publicly announced that he would stay in his current job.
"I want to thank Greg Norman," the head of the league, "and LIV for their interest in me. I wish those guys great success and nothing but the best," Barkley said. "But, in my best interest, and being fair to Turner [Broadcasting] — because Turner and basketball have given me every single thing in my life — it is best for me to move on and I'm staying with Turner for the rest of my TV career."
Barkley, who has three years left on his contract with TNT, had not yet received an official job offer, according to the Post. He played in a pro-am event for LIV at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey, Thursday, where he "sat down with a couple of [LIV] people" and "told them, 'When I told you, I was going to talk to you today, one way or the other and I stick to my word, always. I'm not going to be unfair to Turner. I'm not going to be unfair to my sponsors. This is the decision — and that's it.'"
He added, "My No. 1 priority is to be fair to Turner and my sponsors, to be honest with you. I couldn't just keep them holding on so I made up my mind [Thursday] night. I was like, 'Make a decision and live with it.'"
Barkley also said that the controversy over the league's backing from Saudi Arabia did not affect his decision.
"That had nothing to do with it," he said. "I told you, I don't like those words – 'sports washing' and 'blood money.' I don't like those words at all because every country, including the United States, have stuff going on that they need to improve upon."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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