Concurrent with the end of the NBA Western Conference Finals on Thursday night, the popular TNT Sports studio program Inside the NBA signed off until next season. Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly did not reach a deal with the National Basketball Association during the exclusive 90-day negotiating window for incumbent rightsholders and now faces losing media rights for the league entirely. Although there is reportedly a chance that the NBA could create a fourth media rights package for Warner Bros. Discovery or that the company itself could match another deal, the expected outcome according to several reports is that the entity will not broadcast NBA games past next season.
The future of Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal has been a point of concern among basketball fans, although losing media rights may not necessarily indicate the end of the show. Barkley in particular has spoken about the issue across multiple platforms and addressed the issue on the air in a variety of ways. When Johnson was signing off the end-of-season broadcast last night and exclaimed that next year would be a “blast,” Barley asked if he said “blast” or “last.”
Earlier in the show, Barkley opined that he believed the Boston Celtics would defeat the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA Championship, a sentiment that catalyzed discussion on Friday’s edition of The Greg Hill Show on WEEI. After explaining if they concurred or dissented with Barkley’s opinion, the program discussed what makes Inside the NBA distinctive compared to other studio shows.
“Can I just say – that show, any sport – pregame, halftime, postgame – that grouping of those guys is the best by far in any sport,” co-host Greg Hill said on Friday morning.
Co-host Jermaine Wiggins explained that a reason for the success of Inside the NBA is in Barkley divulging the reality and his true thoughts without being restricted. Show producer Chris Curtis further elaborated on this point, conveying that he feels that everyone likes something but can never end up doing it themselves.
“That show, people relate it to it not because of NBA talk – it’s great – but it’s about how Barkley and Shaq and Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson are friends, and it translates,” Curtis said. “I put on ESPN, no offense, and it’s like Greeny and Pat McAfee, and I’m like, ‘What am I watching?’”
Wiggins mentioned Stephen A. Smith and Paul Bissonnette as two people in particular who come off as serving a similar role to Barkley on their studio programs on ESPN and TNT, respectively. Additionally, he implored people just to be who they are on the air, part of what encompasses Hill’s belief that Tom Brady will end up being a strong live game analyst for FOX Sports. Brady will join play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi as part of the lead broadcast team for the NFL on FOX this upcoming season, which will culminate in its broadcast of Super Bowl LIX from New Orleans, La.
“If you watch Barkley and they do the interview with the players, Barkley will say right to him, ‘Listen, you’ve played like trash. What are you going to do differently moving forward?,’” Wiggins outlined. “Is Tom going to do that when he’s having an interview with Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes?…. Is he going to do what we love that he does, [which] is keep it honest, or is he going to go in the Tony Romo mode or even Troy Aikman of, ‘Everything’s great. Oh, he just made a bad decision here,’ and I think that’s why a lot of people love the show because Barkley will.”
“Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith is really good in that role,” Hill added. “It’s just, it’s great.”
