After 35 seasons, “Inside the NBA” as we know it will be no more. The iconic studio show will sign off for the last time on TNT at the conclusion of the Eastern Conference Finals series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. It’s the end of an era that’s significant to NBA fans of all ages. But fret not, loyal viewers. “Inside the NBA” isn’t 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.
Is ESPN going to mess with “Inside the NBA”? Probably/hopefully not? 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. TNT “will continue to independently produce Inside the NBA” 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, doesn’t think so. Here’s what he told “The Dan Patrick Show” in November. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Marchand said of ESPN tinkering with the show. Marchand went on to cite other high-profile acquisitions under Pitaro like “The Pat McAfee Show” that runs largely untouched by ESPN management, and the network’s decision to allow Peyton Manning to broadcast his “Monday Night Football” “ManningCast” out of his garage in Denver. “I think that’s the Pitaro playbook,” Marchand continued. “If I’m a producer there, I’m kind of saying, if I’m in Bristol, ‘what are we doing? We can’t get this right. The big boss keeps outsourcing our programming. That’s not a good sign.'” But it’s not the same Bristol. … [Pitaro’s] going out and getting what he wants, especially in terms of the on-air people.”
Barkley, Johnson, Smith, O’Neal reportedly all on board The people Pitaro wanted, in this instance, were Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. And he’s got them. Johnson was reportedly staying at TNT whether or not “Inside the NBA” continued. Barkley was signed to a long-term deal with TNT before the ESPN acquisition