Charles Barkley says Kobe Bryant was going to join 'Inside the NBA' but backed out over the workload

• Charles Barkley told Draymond Green that TNT had hired Kobe Bryant to be on "Inside the NBA."
• However, Bryant didn't want to do the weekly interviews to promote the show, Barkley said.

Kobe Bryant nearly became a member of TNT's "Inside the NBA," but he ultimately backed out of the commitment, according to Charles Barkley.

"[TNT] actually hired Kobe Bryant," Barkley said on "The Draymond Green Show," adding that he would probably "get in trouble" for talking about it. "But [Bryant] didn't want to do any of the other bullshit."

Barkley said the cast members were excited about Bryant's signing, only to find out later that the Lakers superstar didn't want to do all of the promotional interviews and "PR" that came with the show.

"He had signed with us," Barkley said. "David Levy, my old boss, had signed him to a deal, and we were excited. We were really excited. And then [Levy] called me back like a week, 10 days later, somewhere in that timeframe, [and said] like, 'Kobe's not going to come.'"

When Barkley asked why, Levy said, "'He don't wanna do all the PR stuff. He don't wanna do all the radio shows and talk about basketball.'"

Barkley added, "That's part of the gig."

Green laughed, noting that the late Bryant, who died tragically in a helicopter crash in January 2020, was a famously hard worker as a player. He said he understood if in retirement, Bryant wasn't willing to make the commitment to work multiple days per week.

Barkley said that although he has to do weekly interviews to promote the show, he still only views the job as working once per week, on Thursday nights. He did add that playoffs get "hectic" because the TNT crew gathers almost every night to cover games.

Watch a clip of the conversation below: