Charles Barkley: To return to NBA show

Charles Barkley: To return to NBA show

Charles Barkley, the "NBA on TNT" analyst, is on leave since January after a drunken driving arrest in Arizona, will return this week.

On Tuesday, Turner Sports said that, Barkley would be in the studio for "Inside the NBA," which features Barkley as well as host Ernie Johnson and analyst Kevin Smith.

"From the beginning, Charles recognized that he used poor judgment. He took full responsibility and apologized for his actions," Turner Sports president David Levy said in a statement. "We look forward to having him back in the studio."

Charles Barkley's leave of absence meant that he missed TNT's coverage of the NBA All-Star Game, where he would have had a key role. TNT averaged 6.8 million viewers for Sunday night's All-Star game, up 8% from the year before.

Barkley, earlier this week, picked up another TV appearance with the announcement that The Golf Channel would have Barkley as a guest on its new reality series "The Haney Project." Barkley will get his golf swing analyzed by Hank Haney, a noted golf instructor.