Charles Barkley's Inside the NBA debut

Charles Barkley's first day on Inside the NBA on TNT. With Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Peter Vecsey. 2000. Notice the tension between Barkley and Vecsey. Vecsey was dropped soon thereafter.

[RogerLockridge]

He joked about taking EJ's and Kenny's job, but he really took Peter's. LOL

[tipdub]

Everyone was glad they gave Peter Vecsey the boot. :)

[Tehui]

Charles Barkley is one of the reasons I started watching basketball again after a 10 year hiatus away from the sport.

[dimageeba]

wow.... it's really weird seeing Ernie with that much hair

[benpietrzykowski]

“We’re all has beens now”-goes onto have the greatest pre/in game sports show in history

[flex]

Savage right out of the gate dropping two bangers in 20 seconds

[louiswilliamson]

He retiring next year...been watching him on Inside since 03-04 season 😢😭😭

[GClassified]

Best move Turner sports has made since “1989” thank you doctor O’Neal

[jeremyquiros]

Can we talk about Ernie’s goatee-stache combo?

[chipskylark]

“Charles Barkley will make his first appearance tomorrow night right here on TNT…”

San Antonio women- “ I feel a disturbance in the force”

[SportsNLife]

yes, i heard Chuck tell the Paul "you got a head too" Silas story. the only thing to root for that year was beating the 72-10 Bulls and Michael Finley who got hurt right before the playoffs. the Suns have had moments since then, but no team felt as dominant as the mid-90s squad (with the possible exception of the never realized 2nd year run of Nash, JJ, Q, Marion, and Amare. the hawks' best player was the suns' 4th best player. after Sarver low-balled JJ and let him walk, i was officially done.

[SportsNLife]

i think Charles has been fairly honest as an analyst. on the other hand, it's been speculated that Peter Vecsey makes stories/rumors up.

the rest of the personal stuff, i'm not that sure is a bad thing because Chuck is an entertainer. he took a crap on OKC and S.A.(as cities) last week, then had them eating out of his hand, pointing out that he himself is from Leeds. Charles knows how to "play ball, " and i thought he extended the olive branch to Peter here--but Peter wouldn't "play ball."

[SportsNLife]

Barkley's debut was March 7th, 2000. 2002 was the year Peter left and Magic joined. NBC in the 90s--i totally agree. I personally like the style of the TNT crew (minus Shaq, who has ruined the chemistry and adds very little to the mix). i can't stand what ESPN has become (like NBC, it was better in the 90s). maybe NBCsports network will bring back some of that old magic and challenge ESPN. CNNSI (another channel i liked) along with FOXsports tried and got crushed about a decade ago. we'll see.

[patrickcarrillo]

The best thing to ever happen to Turner in a long time

[CABOOSE]

CHUCK AND KENNY HAVE THE MOST CHEM TOGETHER ALONG WITH EJ AND I REMEMBER IT USE TO BE JUST THE 3 OF THEM. THEN WEBBER CAME AND WOULD SOMETIMES JOIN AND NOW SHAQ WHOSE THERE FULL TIME. I HOPE CHUCK NEVER LEAVES BECAUSE HE'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT WANTING TO BE A GM FOR A TEAM.

[CABOOSE]

I LOVE THE TNT CREW. I KNOW MOST OF THE TIME THEY FUCK AROUND A LOT WHICH IS FUNNY AND ENTERTAINING BUT ALL OF THEM ONCE THEY START TALKING ABOUT BASKETBALL KNOW THE GAME REAL WELL. I BELIEVE EACH YEAR SHAQ IS WITH THE CREW THE CHEMISTRY WILL GET BETTER BUT I STILL THINK HE'S DOING A GREAT JOB AT IT. I LOVE IT WHEN THEY HAVE THE WHOLE CREW TOGETHER TALKING BUT THE ONLY ONE I HATE TO LISTEN TO IS STEVE KERR WHO IS THE MOST BORING WHEN HE TALKS LOL

[davd]

NBA on NBC in the 90's was awesome!!! Too bad they left after 2002 and ESPN and ABC took over. ESPN has gotten worse each year, not just with their NBA coverage, but with all of their coverage of various sports. As far as TNT is concerned, they are doing a great job, IMO. Shaq hasn't been a good addition. He can be funny and once in a while says something interesting, but most of the time he ruins the chemistry, like you said.

[udim]

I like Chuck, Kenny's comments usually miss the point so I'd let him go, Shaq is 50-50, sometimes funny, sometimes dull.

[SportsNLife]

it's a shame because--they weren't better than the Bulls in 93, so i harbor no ill will about that year or John Paxson etc. but--they should have cashed in in 94 and/or 95 and those were heart-breakers. i think the west was superior to the east and out of the west powerhouses (Jazz, Suns, Rockets, Spurs, Sonics) i think the Suns were the cream of the crop--until Barkley started breaking down, of course. and as you say, that could very well have been prevented.

[SportsNLife]

@lebronshaqfaction

i added a link (about the fallout) to the bottom of the video description.

imo, Vecsey is full of shit, but the point is that Charles and Peter never saw eye to eye. just look at the exchange:

Charles Barkley: I want to work with you guys. Even Peter.
Peter Vecsey: You'll regret that.

and Peter was right. needless to say, the Turner Sports execs made the right choice.