After 35 seasons, “Inside the NBA” as we know it is no more. The iconic studio show signed off for the last time on TNT at the conclusion of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller first bid farewell to Turner’s coverage of the NBA at the end of the trophy presentation with an emotional tribute to the many broadcasters who had worked for the network over the years.
In a nod to the final episode of “Inside the NBA on TNT,” Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal cast themselves off to sea, along with the show’s longtime crew and producers — and, yes, the New York Knicks — as part of their trademark “Gone Fishin'” segment.
“We’ve come to the end of the road here with the NBA on TNT,” Johnson said.
“Even though the name changes, the engine stays the same,” O’Neal said. “To that new network we’re coming to [ESPN], we’re not coming to ‘F’ around. And since it’s the last show, I’ll say it: We’re not coming to f* around. We’re kicking ass, we’re taking names, we’re taking over.”
Smith followed with his own F-bomb. With Pacers fans behind them chanting, “TNT! TNT! TNT,” Johnson choked up as he started to sign off.
“If I had written the script, the NBA and TNT would have been together forever,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to happen.”
O’Neal and Smith dropped their mics while Johnson and Barkley set theirs on the desk, and the four hosts walked off the TNT set for the final time.
While it’s the end of an era that’s significant to NBA fans of all ages, “Inside the NBA” is indeed not going away. It’s just moving to a new location at ESPN.
ESPN acquired the rights to “Inside the NBA” in a landmark November deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to broadcast the show on its networks. In return, TNT Sports will take over exclusive rights to a slate of Big 12 football and men’s college basketball games from ESPN in addition to a deal that it previously had in place with the network for rights to College Football Playoff games.
In short, “Inside the NBA” will carry on next season despite the end of TNT’s 35-year run covering the NBA.
ESPN and chairman Jimmy Pitaro wanted “Inside the NBA” for a reason. ESPN is not very good at producing NBA studio shows. For pretty much its entire existence as an NBA partner, ESPN has failed to produce a show that’s compelling, much less one that captures the zeitgeist like “Inside the NBA.” Instead, the quality of the ESPN product has generally ranged from functional to must-mute.
The struggles aren’t from a lack of trying. ESPN has rotated in and out a cast of hosts, analysts and reporters while trying to find the right formula. None of the efforts has produced more than moderate success, despite significant high-level talent in the rotation.
So Pitaro reached a reasonable conclusion. If you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em. Or trade for ’em, at least. Once it became clear that TNT was, in fact, getting out of the NBA business for the first time since 1989, Pitaro came up with one of the more brilliant, yet obvious ideas in recent sports media: obtain the rights to “Inside the NBA” and put it on the air as is.
It was an idea with two significant impacts: Upgrade the product around ESPN’s NBA broadcasts. And, more importantly in the grand scheme, give a lifeline to “Inside the NBA,” which was previously on track to become an all-too unfortunate casualty of the latest NBA media rights shuffle.
By all accounts — including directly from ESPN — it sounds like “Inside the NBA” will continue to run largely as is. In its announcement about acquiring the rights to the show, ESPN made clear that “Inside the NBA” will continue to be produced by TNT Sports.
“TNT Sports will continue to independently produce Inside the NBA from its Atlanta-based studios over the term of the agreement,” ESPN’s announcement from November reads.
It will feature the same cast and production team and will continue to be produced out of Turner’s Studio J in Atlanta. ESPN and ABC will simply license the show for broadcast on its own networks.
But surely ESPN will want to put its own fingerprints on the show, right? There’s no way the “worldwide leader” won’t want to tinker with it, at least a little bit.
The Athletic’s media reporter Andrew Marchand, who’s covered the show’s transition from TNT to ESPN,