"Those guys are doing what superstars are supposed to do," said Barkley, now a TNT analyst.

The Nets will also look at John Thompson, the Georgetown coach turned TNT analyst.

"I just think the Celtics are a couple players away, that's all," Barkley, the TNT analyst, told his colleagues, who looked at him in amazement.

As soon as he heard the boycott threat, Doc Rivers, the TNT analyst, ascribed it to a small group of agents.

John Thompson, the current TNT analyst and the former Georgetown basketball coach who conducted the interview, said he felt people misinterpreted Carter's words.

"People still either love me or hate me for beating Notre Dame," said Ainge, now a TNT analyst.

Doug Collins hadn't been a TNT analyst for nine years and now the network wanted him back.

"The N.B.A. has a double standard because fans are looking at a black league," said Barkley, now a TNT analyst.

Thompson was a TNT analyst on the last few N.B.A. drafts, the most recent one after he left Georgetown.

Thompson, a TNT analyst working Thursday night's Nets-Clippers game, returned the message and told Mourning they were staying in the same hotel.