Kenny, Chuck, Ernie and Shaq aren’t going anywhere — they’ll just be on a different channel and streaming on a different app.
NBA fans can rest easy knowing that the legendary TNT studio show “Inside the NBA” will return next season after it was initially feared to be ending due to the NBA’s new television rights deal.
ESPN announced in a news release on Nov. 18 that the show will appear on ESPN and ABC starting with the 2025-26 season.
Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal are expected to remain with the show, although O’Neal still needs to agree to a contract extension, according to The Athletic.
The show will still be produced by TNT Sports but will be distributed on ESPN and ABC platforms. TNT will no longer be broadcasting NBA games starting next season after the NBA rejected its attempt to match the offer made by Amazon Prime Video. The dispute resulted in TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, suing the NBA in July.
“Inside the NBA” will appear on ESPN and ABC as part of a settlement in the lawsuit. The settlement also allows Warner Bros. Discovery the rights to use NBA highlights to develop new shows with NBA content domestically and internationally, according to a news release by Warner Bros. Discovery.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in the Warner Bros. news release.
The NBA announced a new 11-year deal in July in which ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video will telecast NBA games beginning with the 2025-26 season and running through the 2035-36 season. (Peacock is owned by TODAY.com’s parent company, NBCUniversal.)
With TNT Sports not being part of the deal, NBA fans feared “Inside the NBA” would come to an end after this season. It has been a fixture since debuting in the 1989-90 season.
Barkley also said on NBA TV during the NBA Finals in June that this current season would be his last because he didn’t want to leave TNT. TNT Sports then announced in August that Barkley would continue the 10-year contract he signed in 2022 and would not be retiring.
One difference under the new agreement with ESPN is that the show will be on less frequently during the season, compared to appearing every week like its current form.
“Inside the NBA” will now appear during “high-profile live events” that include coverage of the NBA Finals, the playoffs, all ABC games after Jan. 1, Christmas Day games, and the opening and closing weeks of the regular season, according to ESPN’s news release.
ESPN’s regular NBA programming, “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today,” will both remain intact under the new deal, according to ESPN’s news release.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
