Charles Barkley caught dropping f-bomb on hot mic during 'NBA on TNT' broadcast
Charles Barkley is known for speaking his mind. It's a big part of why he's considered one of the most entertaining analysts around. He's blunt, he's brash and he's not afraid to be critical.
And while that style can sometimes get him in trouble, Barkley generally keeps it PG-13 when he gets fired up. That was not the case Wednesday, when Barkley was caught dropping an f-bomb just before an "NBA on TNT" commercial break.
You can hear Barkley use that term in the NSFW video below.
Charles Barkley with the hot mic! pic.twitter.com/010vqKnPd5
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 22, 2025
In the clip, Barkley and Ernie Johnson are talking about something that occurred earlier on the show. During the broadcast's discussion of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP win, Barkley lamented the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander's teammate — Thunder forward Luguentz Dort — never made an NBA All-Defensive team.
That was the source of Barkley's f-bomb during Wednesday's broadcast. After Johnson threw to a commercial, Barkley and Johnson engaged in a conversation about Dort.
"Can you believe that [Dort] never made an All-Defensive team," Barkley said.
"I can't believe you were trying to wedge that in when I was trying to tell them what the vote was for MVP," Johnson responded.
"That tells you these guys who vote don't know what the f*** they doing," Barkley added before the show went to commercial.
Given the situation, it's possible Barkley and Johnson assumed their mics were turned off as the broadcast prepared to go to a commercial break. That could be confirmed by the lack of response from Johnson after Barkley drops the f-bomb. Though the clip cuts out shortly after Barkley says the word, it doesn't appear anyone on the broadcast reprimands him for saying it.
When Barkley has slipped up in the past, Johnson is always the one who very quickly gets out in front of the situation. That didn't happen this time around, suggesting the entire broadcast thought their mics were turned off when Barkley swore.
It's unclear what — if any — punishment Barkley or TNT will face for the mistake. Even if they manage to avoid a fine for using a banned word on television, it will be interesting to see if Barkley apologizes for the language during TNT's next broadcast.
Barkley's apologies are often more entertaining than the inciting incident, and hopefully that's the case after Wednesday's slip up.
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