Six-time NBA All-Star with $261 million career earnings being lined up for massive ‘Charles Barkley esque’ role with Amazon
Blake Griffin could be the new face of Amazon Prime Video’s NBA coverage.
According to Front Office Sports, the six-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection is being touted as a ‘Charles Barkley esque’ figure to helm the streaming service’s basketball coverage during the 2025-26 season.
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Griffin has ventured into the world of comedy and acting which is a big appeal for TV networksCredit: GettyHowever, Amazon isn’t the only streaming giant reportedly showing interest in Griffin’s services.
According to their sources, NBC Sports and ESPN are also circling for the 35-year-old, who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2009 and famously dunked over a car during the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest.
“A lot of people are very interested in him,” one source said in the report. “Blake is making the rounds.”
READ MORE NBAGriffin reportedly made $261,338,564 in salary payments during his 13-year playing career. He signed a five-year, $94,538,626 contract with the LA Clippers in 2013, and another five-year deal in 2017, worth $171 million.
Lucrative endorsements deal with the likes of Nike, Kia, Subway, and AT&T, further boosted his personal net worth.
Griffin was the 2011 NBA Rookie of the Year and established himself as a superstar in The Association as a member of the high-flying Los Angeles Clippers, dubbed ‘Lob City’.
The power forward also played for the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, and Boston Celtics.
He announced his retirement from basketball earlier this year.
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Griffin was one of the NBA’s best dunkers for many yearsCredit: AP
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Barkley has become the gold standard for sports broadcastingCredit: GettyGriffin has slowly planned for life after basketball with steady moves into the entertainment world.
It’s unclear what his role with Amazon would be but his comedic chops and natural humor lend themselves to him becoming a studio analyst, a lot like Barkley.
Griffin made his acting debut in 2016 in the Broad City episode ‘B&B-NYC’ and appeared in the Whitney Cummings comedy ‘The Female Brain’.
Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley sound off on Joel Embiid’s comments that he may not play in back-to-backs in the NBA
He was also in a sketch on sports comedy television program ‘Sports Show with Norm Macdonald’ in 2011.
The former Clippers man has also tried his hand at stand up comedy. He had a stint on ‘Funny or Die’ and his comedy debut hosting the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal in July 2016.
Later that year, he hosted his own show, ‘Comedy by Blake’.
He has appeared as a roaster in the Comedy Central Roast of Alec Baldwin in 2019, and in 2020 appeared on the 10th episode of season 5 of ‘The Eric Andre Show’.
That experience makes Griffin a natural progression from Barkley, whose own future on beloved TNT show ‘Inside the NBA’ remains up in the air.
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Inside the NBA’s future hangs in the balanceCredit: GettySince 2000, ‘Sir Charles’ has served as a studio analyst on Inside the NBA, alongside Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.
Barkley’s hilarious and outspoken personality has seen him win five Sports Emmy Awards for ‘Outstanding Studio Analyst’ and become the gold standard for sports broadcasting.
However, this year could be the final season of Inside the NBA as fans know it.
TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), is unlikely to retain broadcast rights for the NBA beyond the 2024-2025 season. The NBA signed an 11-year, $76 billion TV deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon earlier this year.
Read More on talkSPORTIf TNT Sports loses its NBA rights, the show will not exist in its current format as TNT’s pregame and postgame show.
With that said, there’s still hope the current crew could continue in some capacity, albeit away from TNT.
