Sir Charles & TNT, an Explosive, Entertaining Match

Who could have envisioned Charles Barkley being as successful at anything in his post-NBA life as he was at playing basketball? But just as the former All-Star forward did during his playing days, he’s once again proved a lot of people wrong.

Four years ago, a retired Sir Charles traded in his proverbial rocking chair and remote control for a seat and a microphone on TNT’s Inside the NBA set, where he’s been entertaining and informing TV viewers as a color analyst ever since. Alongside host Ernie Johnson and fellow NBA alum Kenny Smith, Barkley adds his own brand of enthusiasm and irreverant humor to a show that many enjoy as much as the games themselves.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had in an NBA studio,” said Johnson of working with Barkley. “He’s just as he was as a player. He’s an entertainer and he’s never lost sight of that. I remember watching him play. He’d put on a show on the court and then there was a lot of stuff on the peripheral that he’d be doing that would make the night more entertaining, and he’s the exact same way in the studio.”

To Turner Sports Coordinating Producer Tim Kiely, Barkley’s a “producer’s dream.” Well, as long as that producer is looking for an employee who brings a constant influx of new material and spontaneity to work with him. Even though there is no official script for the telecasts, Kiely says a strict guideline wouldn’t work anyway with this group.

“A script takes all the fun out of it with a guy like Charles,” he said. “He won’t tell you what he’s going to say ahead of time anyway.”

Everybody’s familiar with Barkley the basketball player -- emotional, energetic, trash-talking, aggressiveness under the basket. But what no one knew was how Charles would handle life as a broadcaster. Smith was just one person who was pleasantly surprised by the answer.

“We had started to move in a loose direction when I came in,” the former Rockets' guard said. “But then when Charles came in, he took it to another level. It’s like when you have a championship team. There’s a feeling when you walk into the building that something’s different. This is something special.”

Smith, who equates the telecasts to a group of guys just watching a game on a couch, adds, “We try and keep a natural feel to it. The conversations don’t start on the set. They start two days before when we’re just talking. So nothing he says surprises me. Even now, I know when it’s coming, so I can throw him a softball. I let him hit it out of the park because I know where he likes to go. I know what hits his buttons and he knows what hits mine.”

As for absorbing too much verbal abuse from his on-air sparring partner, Smith knows he’s always got one topic that’ll stop Charles in his tracks. All he has to do is start wiggling his fingers with those two NBA Championship rings on them -- the two he won with with Houston in '94 and '95 after the Rockets beat the Suns in the Conference Semifinals both years -- and Barkley sees where the conversation’s headed next.

“That’s the one I save,” Smith laughed. “I don’t use that very often. That’s kryptonite. When I’m really in trouble, when he’s really getting the best of me, I’ll bring out the championship story. I let other people say it, but I use it once a year. If you see me whip out the championship story, you know I’m really in trouble.”

Championships aside, Smith has one other more way of evening up a discussion in a flash. All he has to do is remind Charles about the time in late 2002 when he underestimated Rockets center Yao Ming. After a prediction-gone-awry, the former No. 34 had to make good on an on-air wager with Smith that he would kiss his (butt). And when Sir Charles make good on something, he really makes good.

“Bring a donkey and I’ll have him kiss that,” Smith recalled of the TV first. “The funniest thing is he kissed the donkey’s backside when he could have kissed the donkey anywhere.”

It’s easy to mistake all the banter back and forth as a sign the trio have real issues with each other, but nothing could be further from the truth. The group might be dysfunctional, but it’s in a good, ratings-grabbing sort of way.

“They just really like each other,” Kiely explained. “The key is Ernie. He waits for Charles to finish and then he comes up with a one-liner. Kenny’s great, because he just kills Charles. He can skewer Charles better than anybody. It’s a great combination. They’re willing to listen to each other. They know they’re all going to get their chances to poke fun at each other. They never walk off the set saying, `Why’d you say that about me?’ It’s just great chemistry.”

Johnson believes the chemistry was built early on. Although the veteran broadcaster was a little concerned about how Barkley would handle the "dog days" of the NBA season in February and March, he quickly learned that the Chuckster had more than enough energy to last throughout the long season.

“He’s brought it every night,” Johnson said. “There’s not a night that goes by when he doesn’t say, 'Let’s have some fun in here.’ It’s been a very cool part of it. He’s got a great enthusiasm for the job. You can’t rehearse it. You just run with it.

“We all have a good time with the show. I had high hopes when Charles joined me and Kenny, but I never envisioned being this much fun and it being as popular with viewers as it has been.”