ESPN may ‘f–k the show up' when ‘Inside the NBA' moves: Bill Simmons
Bill Simmons is worried that ESPN will 'f–k up' 'Inside the NBA' when it starts airing the beloved NBA studio show next season.
'Inside the NBA' closed its run on TNT on Saturday after the Knicks ended their quest for an NBA title with a loss to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals.
The show will move to ESPN, and the former employee of the network opined recently that it would ruin the show without a change to the way it structures its commercial breaks.
'Unless they completely change how they do commercials, the show is gonna be different, people are gonna be pissed and Barkley and those guys are gonna be pissed and I think it's going to go badly,' Simmons said on 'The Bill Simmons Podcast. 'The only way it doesn't go badly is if they do the commercials and they give them the lengthy segments that you need to have that show work. They're going to have to change how they do it.
'They just paid so much for the NBA that if they don't do that and they do the same short, terrible segments that you're about to see in the Finals where it's like a one and a half minute halftime and it's like a 20 minute pregame, they do that they're going to f–k the show up and everybody's going to be mad.'
Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Jalen Rose, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley of 'Inside the NBA' talk before Game 6 between the Knicks and the Pacers during the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals on May 31, 2025 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
NBAE via Getty Images
Sports media news site Awful Announcing noted last year that NBA fans had panned the halftime show produced by ESPN for its incredibly short segments, with a majority of the program being made up of commercials.
Warning: Graphic language
Simmons alleged that ESPN had 'not cared for this entire century about this' issue with the commercial breaks and that 'whoever is running ESPN' had simply 'just cashed the checks from the commercials.'
Details have started to emerge about ESPN's plans for the show once it lands on the Disney-owned network's airwaves.
ESPN has no plans to change the show's DNA and TNT will retain complete editorial control over the show, Front Office Sports reported Monday.
Bill Simmons commented about ESPN getting 'Inside the NBA.'
Screengrab via X/@awfulannouncing
ESPN will take a hands-off approach like they've done with Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee, and one Front Office Sports source blasted the speculation over what the network could try to do with 'Inside the NBA.'
'Some of the speculation's just nuts. ESPN has wanted Barkley and this show for 20 years. Now that they've got it, why would they change it?' the source said to Front Office Sports.
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