‘Inside the NBA’ is the rare sports studio show that oftentimes feels like a bigger deal than the games happening on the court. The cast of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith wasn’t just framing the discourse around the biggest stories in the NBA, it was often creating new talking points and viral moments out of thin air by leveraging the panel’s amazing chemistry.
The future of ‘Inside the NBA’ seemed like the biggest casualty from the NBA’s new media rights deal — a massive $76 billion package spread between NBC, Disney, and Amazon. TNT is the odd man out, and that means ‘Inside the NBA’ is preparing for its final season in 2024-2025, at least pending litigation on Warner Bros’. ability to exercise its match rights clause.
Even if/when TNT is cut out, it’s possible ‘Inside the NBA’ could be recreated elsewhere. A new report from Front Office Sports highlights Barkley’s out clause that would allow him to be a media free agent for hire as NBC, ABC/ESPN, and Amazon gain the rights. FSO also speculates that it’s possible a company like Amazon could try to bring together the entire ‘Inside the NBA’ cast for a new studio show under a different name. Unfortunately, there’s a catch: Barkley is the only cast member reported to have an out clause in his contract, which complicates recreating ‘Inside’ in its entirety.
Barkley is poised to be one of the biggest winners of the new NBA media rights deal. It’s being speculated that the bidding for Barkley could start at $20 million per year. Barkley has indicated in the past that he was going to retire after the upcoming season, but at 61 years old, his highest-earning years could still be front of him.
There’s about to be enormous cash infusion throughout the NBA, but it remains to be seen how that’s going to impact the product. Will casual fans open a different app to stream the Amazon games instead of just browsing cable? Even if another company signs Barkley and attempts to rebuild ‘Inside the NBA,’ it won’t be the same show or have the same history.
Either way, ‘Inside the NBA’ is going to be incredible television this upcoming season in the final year of its existence. The cast will likely be less filtered than ever before as it memorializes the end of an amazing run. Let’s just hope it’s the not the last we see of Barkley and friends.
