What's next for Inside the NBA? Details on the hit sports show's future
What's next for Inside the NBA? Details on the hit sports show's future
When the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks series officially comes to an end, that series won't be the only thing going away.
That'll be the last time we ever watch TNT's Inside the NBA — the hit pre- and post-game NBA show that has given us so many laughs through the years, like this one. And this one. There's also this one. Oh, and this one, too. You get the point by now.
The show isn't perfect, by any means. There are times when the analysts are wrong. There are times when you'd appreciate a more serious approach to the job. There are plenty of times when you wish they'd pay attention to more than a handful of teams. But, man. So many people have fallen for this show over the years, in one way or another.
Now, because of the NBA's new television deal with Amazon, ESPN and NBC, Inside the NBA is being cast aside.
We'll kind of.
What's next for Inside the NBA?
Inside the NBA is moving to ESPN. Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to a licensing deal to keep the show rolling back in November.
There was the thought that the show would just disappear along with TNT's deal with the NBA, but this licensing deal keeps things alive. You'll still be able to watch Inside the NBA, but it'll be on a different network. It'll be broadcast on ABC and ESPN instead of TNT.
Will the crew change?
While the deal will send the show over to ESPN, the Inside the NBA talent you see on the show today will still remain. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and Ernie Johnson will still be the show's hosts. They'll also still be featured in other TNT programming, so you'll still see them working during March Madness, for example. The crew will be the same. The show will still run out of Atlanta. The only thing that is seemingly changing is the fact that its now under the NBA on ESPN umbrella instead of NBA on TNT.
THE DETAILS: Kenny Smith was disappointed by how the Inside the NBA deal went down
How will it work?
It's a quirky situation, considering ESPN already has its own postgame and pregame programming. But there's no question that it pales in comparison to the Inside the NBA crew. ESPN is looking to use the Inside crew to cover its big events.
Here's what the brand's statement said after the agreement:
"The legendary Inside the NBA studio team will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding 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 January 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events."
There will also likely be opportunities for crossover and collaboration between the two teams. We already saw a bit of that with the NBA Cup over these last two seasons. The broadcast crews have co-hosted shows side-by-side and interacted with each other in the wackiest ways.
An example:
Look forward to more of these shenanigans once these two sides unite.
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