Kobe Bryant had a love for basketball that was matched only by some of the greatest players in NBA history. The late Lakers legend didn't struggle to find other passions when he retired in 2016, though, as he showed his talent for storytelling by writing multiple books and an Oscar-winning short film.
Bryant also pursued media opportunities, working with ESPN on the "Detail" video series — and nearly joining the "NBA on TNT" team. During his appearance on "The Draymond Green Show" podcast, Hall of Famer and veteran TNT analyst Charles Barkley revealed Turner Sports at one point reached an agreement with Bryant to join the Thursday night crew, but he backed out because he didn't want to "do all the other bulls—" associated with the job.
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Here's how the talks between Bryant and TNT went down, according to Barkley:
He actually signed with us, but then when we started telling him, like, 'You know, I have to do a bunch of radio shows. I go on this show on Monday, Thursday night TNT, same thing on Tuesday, same thing on Wednesday, same thing on Thursday.' He's like, 'Yeah, I don't want to do all that stuff.' We said, 'Well, you have to promote the show, Kobe.' So, Kobe actually, it's so funny — like I said, there's probably only 10 people in the world know that, that he actually signed with us. He's like, 'Nah, I'm not doing all that other bulls—.' He's just like, 'Nah.' It was funny because, like I said, we always have something to do. ...
He had signed with us. David Levy, my old boss, had signed him to a deal, and we were excited. We were really excited. And then he called me back a week, 10 days later, somewhere in that time frame, like, 'Yeah, Kobe's not going to come.' We're like, 'Why?' 'Because he don't want to do all the PR stuff. He don't want to go on radio shows and talk about basketball.' Like, well, that's part of the gig.
Barkley's story presents a lot of fascinating questions.
Would the new "NBA on TNT" panel have been the four regulars — Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith — plus Bryant in the fifth chair? Would Bryant have gotten his own segments similar to what he did with ESPN? Did TNT view Bryant as the ideal replacement for Barkley?
Last month, Barkley declared he would "probably" leave his TV career behind after his current contract with Turner Sports expires, echoing previous comments about his future. Barkley said that his contract runs out in two years, which points to the end of the 2023-24 season. But according to Turner Sports, the deal Barkley signed back in 2015 runs through 2024-25.
"I don't want to die on TV. I want to die on the golf course or somewhere fishing," Barkley said. "I don't want to be sitting inside over [by] fat-ass Shaq [waiting] to drop dead."
It undoubtedly would have been entertaining to watch Bryant interact with the rest of the group and potentially become the No. 1 option when Barkley exited, but Bryant clearly had other interests outside of TV. It just wasn't meant to be.
