Charles Barkley made his first appearance on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning. The Inside the NBA analyst reflected on a landmark debut season at his new network — including a first-ever crack at the NBA Finals.
What We Know: After more than two decades anchoring Inside the NBA on TNT Sports, Barkley and co-hosts Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal transitioned to ESPN this season. The move came under an 11-year sublicensing agreement, ending TNT’s long run as an NBA broadcast partner. As a result, the Inside the NBA crew worked the NBA Finals on ESPN/ABC for the first time. Previously, TNT’s rights deal excluded postseason Finals coverage entirely.
What They Said: Charles Barkley on the opportunity to work the NBA Finals for the first time with ESPN: “Working for the greatest sports network ever has been an honor and a privilege. Every kid who’s ever touched a ball wanted to be on ESPN. To work with you guys, it’s been awesome. But to get to do the NBA finals, it was exciting, fun, and we had a blast.”
What Remains Unclear: What the plans are for Inside the NBA moving into next season. Several ESPN content executives have expressed a desire for more episodes. Also, more frequency throughout the entire NBA calendar. The show will air on site from every game of this season’s NBA Finals. However, the official schedule for next season is unknown.
What It Means: Despite his criticisms of the network over many years, Barkley now loves ESPN. Last offseason, Barkley shared many questions and concerns. That tenor was present with many media appearances about the future of the program. Yet, now he seems to be very satisfied with the overall outcome of the season. It will be interesting to see if ESPN and TNT Sports can work on more flexibility for more episodes of the program next season covering more of the NBA calendar. This season, the show often was seen for the better part of the first half of the season. Some, myself included, feel that because of the shift in network the program has lost some of the spark it once had. For now, the NBA Finals are better when Inside the NBA is present.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
