If Warner Bros. Discovery was to lose rights to broadcast the NBA, it could mark the end of the award-winning studio program Inside the NBA. The potential of a forthcoming end for the program, which has been on the air since 1989, has been loathed by many consumers who enjoy the on-air product. With host Ernie Johnson and analysts Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley appearing throughout the regular season and playoffs, the program has found a way to adeptly and shrewdly blend information and entertainment surrounding live game coverage.
“I think we can reasonably argue that outside of Howard Cosell, Charles Barkley has been the greatest broadcaster in the history of all of sports,” Dan Le Batard said during an appearance on the Meadowlark Media podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out. “[He is the] most award-winning; several decades of success doing what Draymond Green is trying to do in a way that will never be replicated.”
With negotiations continuing as it pertains to media rights for the National Basketball Association, The Wall Street Journal reported that Comcast subsidiary NBCUniversal was presenting a $2.5 billion bid to gain a package of games. While the exact parameters surrounding such an offering remain unknown, the price tag would represent a significant increase, especially since the league currently receives a reported $2.6 billion annually from its media rights.
The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC) is reported to have reached a handshake agreement with the NBA to keep the rights, but Warner Bros. Discovery has ostensibly exited an exclusive negotiating window afforded to existing rightsholders with no deal. Moreover, the NBA is reportedly adding Amazon into the mix beginning in the 2025-26 season with its own deal on its streaming platform.
The entire cast of Inside the NBA signed 10-year contract extensions, but Barley, O’Neal and Smith all have opt-outs if Warner Bros. Discovery is to lose rights to broadcasting the NBA. The NBA on TNT property has been in existence since the 1988 season, rendering it the longest-standing rightsholder with the league. Through that time, it has presented no shortage of memorable moments and employed riveting, affable broadcasters in the sports media landscape. Le Batard believes Barley possesses a charisma the likes of which he has not seen in the history of the sports media industry, which could make him a highly sought-after free agent should he exit his deal with TNT Sports.
“Barkley getting away with stuff all of the time is fascinating to me because no one has been more influential on, I think, athletes trying to be broadcasters,” host Pablo Torre said, “and it’s funny because Barkley’s whole sort of shtick, you could argue, is that he never won a ring, and so he’s perpetually sort of beset by this criticism that he failed, and yet nobody has won more in an arena that every athlete who has won wants to get into more.”
ESPN analyst and Meadowlark Media personality Mina Kimes was on the show as well, and Torre spoke to her about the meaning of charisma for analysts. The rationale surrounding what Torre believes encapsulates that trait he feels is harder to determine with Barkley because of the fact that “his lack of knowledge is endearing.” The chemistry that exists between he and his colleagues seems to permeate through the screen for a preponderance of viewers that brings them keen insights and innocuous revelry.
“There’s a segment on Inside the NBA, the greatest studio show for my money of all time in any sport, in which ‘Who he play for’ is the premise, and spoiler alert, Charles does not know who that player plays for,” Torre said. “He gets away with stuff and he would be the biggest free agent, I believe, in sports media bidding history because of what’s happening potentially with TNT losing the NBA.”
Le Batard further emphasized the chemistry on the program and classified it as the type of rapport that Kimes shares with her colleagues on NFL Live on ESPN. Kimes articulated that Inside the NBA is difficult to replicate and represents a show she enjoys watching. Barkley, however, seems to be held to a different standard and adjudicated differently than others within the space.
“What he’s bringing to the table – it’s not even really about credibility for me – it’s the force of personality,” Kimes said. “He is amazing on television not because of his intimate knowledge of the league. I respect that, and it doesn’t mean that it’s unfair that I don’t get the same benefit of the doubt because I don’t have the talent that he has.”
Torre presented a comparison between Barkley and Jordan, both of whom were Hall of Fame players in their own rights but have differing résumés. Whereas Jordan won six NBA championships and is regarded by many basketball fans as the greatest player of all time, Barkley never won a championship and only played in one NBA FInals series in his 16-year NBA career. Yet Torre classifies Jordan as being miserable while Barkley is the face of the sport because of his amiability.
“Likability to me feels like a question of, ‘Do you want to hang out with this guy? Do you want to keep hanging out with this guy?,’ [and], ‘Do you want him around?,’” Torre said, “and the answer with Charles Barkley seems like the most unanimous, bipartisan ‘Yes’ despite all the ways he’s stuck his foot in his mouth that would have torpedoed other people.”
