Our favorite basketball crew isn’t going anywhere.
“Inside the NBA” — starring Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal — will air on ESPN and ABC beginning with the 2025-26 season, thanks to a collaboration between TNT Sports and the NBA, it was revealed Nov 18. TNT Sports will continue to produce “Inside the NBA” independently from its Atlanta-based studios throughout the length of the deal, with the exception of when the show travels. Johnson, Barkley, Smith and O’Neal will remain on the show.
The show — which has earned 21 Sports Emmy Awards — will appear on ESPN and ABC during high-profile live events, including ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals, NBA playoffs, all ABC games after Jan. 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events.
“Inside the NBA is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “We have long admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of Inside the NBA further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
In exchange for Barkley and the rest of the crew, ESPN agreed to offer Warner’s TNT Sports the rights to televise an exclusive slate of Big 12 football and men’s basketball games beginning with the 2025 season. These games, however, were widely expected to be streamed on ESPN+, which is probably why they felt comfortable enough to give them up.
This agreement is part of a settlement reached after Warner Bros. Discovery — the parent company of TNT Sports — sued the NBA in New York state court in August after the league declined to accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season. The agreement grants TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global license to NBA content with no rights charge for the next 11 years.
This is good news to NBA fans everywhere. Everybody was dreading the end of “Inside The NBA,” so it’s amazing to see this news after months of speculation. “Inside the NBA” began in 1989. Johnson took over as host in 1990, and Smith began working on the show full-time in 1998. Barkley signed on in 2000, followed by O’Neal in 2011. Their undeniable chemistry made them a staple every Tuesday and Thursday. Barkley signed an extension with WBD in August and Shaq’s contract ends this year, but it has already been agreed upon to extend it.
