The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament concludes in Las Vegas this weekend, and one of the unique elements of the semifinals tonight will be the crossover coverage between TNT and ESPN.
ESPN will have the first semifinal of the evening. The game tips off at 5 PM Eastern. Mike Breen and Doris Burke will be joined by Reggie Miller on the broadcast. Lisa Salters will be the sideline reporter for the game.
For TNT’s game at 9 PM Eastern, Kevin Harlan and Candace Parker will be joined by Doc Rivers. Allie LaForce will handle sideline reporting.
Additionally, both networks are going to collaborate for extended segments in their respective pregame show windows. Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will join ESPN NBA Countdown with Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Bob Myers and Adrian Wojnarowski before the early game. Everyone will get together again when Inside the NBA gets viewers ready for the late game.
Front Office Sports reported that as the NBA prepares to negotiate a new media rights deal with both ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery, network leaders see other chances for crossovers down the road.
“This is the first step in something that potentially could create other opportunities [in] the future,” TNT Sports executive vice president and chief content officer Craig Barry said.
ESPN head of event and studio production David Roberts said something similar.
“This is just a starting point,” he said.
The NBA’s current media rights contract concludes at the end of the 2024-25 season.
