During an interview on ESPN 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy” in Chicago on Tuesday, NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley hinted that the popular show “Inside the NBA,” which he co-hosts with Shaquille O’Neal, may be coming to an end.
“We have zero idea what’s going to happen,” Barkley said during the radio interview. “We might lose it. I feel so bad for the people I work with … It is flat-out brutal. Everybody’s scared to death,” he said of the fan favorite show’s staff and crew.
Barkley highlighted that this is the first time the exclusive negotiating window has expired before TNT and the NBA agreed to a new broadcast rights deal and that there’s still a 50-50 chance that Warner Bros. Discovery retains its NBA rights, allowing “Inside the NBA” to continue airing on TNT.
Barkley said they are in a “bidding war” with NBC, which was last valued at around $2.5 billion.
“This is the first time we have not signed it in that exclusive window. There’s always like a year window.” He later repeated, “This is the first time during the exclusive window, we did not sign in advance.”
Barkley noted that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will ultimately make the final decision.
The uncertainty has left the show’s crew frightened about the future.
Do you watch “Inside the NBA”?
“Am I concerned? 100 percent” Barkley said, “because as much as we have been partners with the NBA for I think 40 years, you would think if it was close in a bidding war, we would get the benefit of the doubt, but clearly that’s not happening.”
Charles Barkley on TNT’s future with the @NBA
“I am concerned…100%”
Full interview: https://t.co/MqIrVh1020@waddleandsilvy @twaddle87 @tyleraki_ @Jeff_Meller pic.twitter.com/yx3zDJ6P0q
— ESPN 1000 (@ESPN1000) May 14, 2024
“So to answer your question, they’re scared to death over here right now. I feel so bad for the people I work with,” Barkley said.
Recent reports have surfaced that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav needed to counter NBC’s $2.5 billion offer with a $2.8 billion bid.
Should TNT lose NBA rights, numerous producers and technical staff could face job losses.
Another angle to consider is LeBron James’ role in all of this.
Amazon has expressed interest in bringing James on board as an analyst if he retires by the 2025-26 season, leveraging their existing relationship through his show “The Shop.”
According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, “One name, if you want to think really big — and aggregators, hold your rewrites for now — is LeBron James, if he were to retire by 2025-26. Amazon, notably, has already established a relationship with James by occasionally having his ‘The Shop’ as an alternate broadcast on ‘Thursday Night Football.’”
