Charles Barkley’s retirement plans left his longtime partner shocked that he not only learned about it on TV like everybody else, but also that there was no acknowledgment of his longtime TNT co-hosts.
“He never called me. He never told me,” Kenny Smith told The Post at the NBL Next Stars event Monday celebrating Australia’s National Basketball League. “He still hasn’t called me and told me, ‘Kenny, I’m retiring.’ ”
Asked what he thought of Barkley’s announcement a little over a week ago, Smith said from the Peak Event Space at EDGE in Hudson Yards, “I was just surprised he didn’t thank me, Ernie [Johnson] and Shaq [O’Neal]. You’re going to retire and not thank us?”
Smith, the NBL Director of Player Initiatives, added that he thought about posting a message on Instagram reading, “New guitarist needed, serious inquiries only.”
Barkley, perhaps the most famous TV analyst in any American sport, said after the NBA Finals that next season will be his last on television.
The shock announcement followed reports of TNT’s parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery, losing its bid for the NBA’s media rights with the next contract.
As a result, next season would be the last on TNT before the coverage would shift to Amazon and NBC while also remaining on ESPN/ABC.
Barkley and Smith have been analysts together on TNT’s popular “Inside The NBA” studio show for nearly 25 years.
O’Neal joined after he retired in 2011.
There’s been talk of their recreating the show on another network, but Barkley squashed the idea on NBA TV right after the Celtics won the championship last week.
“I’ve talked to the other networks, but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” Barkley, 61, said. “But I have made the decision that, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me. My heart is full with joy and gratitude.”
Barkley seemed emotional during the interview but, as Smith noted, never mentioned his TNT co-hosts.
“Next year, I’m going to just retire after 25 years,” Barkley said, “and I just wanted to say thank you. And I wanted y’all to hear it from me first.”