The National Basketball Association (NBA) is losing one of its flagship programs after the league announced it was terminating its contract with TNT, which broadcasts “Inside the NBA,” and signing 11-year deals to broadcast games with Amazon, NBC and Disney.
“Inside” has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards and is widely regarded as one of the best studio sports programming, known for the freewheeling banter between stars such as Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal. The expected end of TNT Sports' relationship with the NBA at the end of the 2024-2025 season marks the end of the groundbreaking show.
TNT Sports, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, said Monday that it had applied a provision in its current broadcast rights contract with the network that would have allowed the network to maintain some of its broadcasts. The NBA said in a statement that it rejected Amazon Prime Video's proposal, saying “Warner Bros. Discovery did not meet the terms of the proposal.”
TNT Sports responded to the announcement with a statement about X, saying the league had not interpreted the clause correctly.
“We matched Amazon's offer as our contractual right and do not believe the NBA can reject it,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “We believe they have materially misrepresented our contractual rights beyond the 2025-26 season and will take appropriate action.”
TNT was looking to acquire Amazon's “C” package – which includes biennial conference finals, weekly broadcast rights, WNBA rights and early playoff games for an estimated $1.8 billion, according to a report from Front Office Sports confirmed by USA Today.
Here are some of the best moments from “Inside the NBA.”
San Antonio Women
If there's one running gag from Inside the NBA that will likely outlive the show and perhaps the league, it's Barkley's feud with San Antonio's “Big Ol' Women” and their rumored love of churros.
The joke is the best example of how Barkley's humor is pushing the envelope and succeeding at it, even as he told a Washington, D.C. sports radio station in 2021 that his round mound of rebounds was shut down by Turner executives.
Phoenix Nachos
Barkley's blistering attack on one of his former teams, the Phoenix Suns, was emblematic of how the franchise has fallen under Robert Sabres' ownership.
Egged on by other “Inside” crew members, Barkley slammed the quality of the food, the lack of fans and the size of the parking lot.
Police presence
Barkley and O'Neal were hysterical after reports of a locker room invasion following a 2018 playoff game between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers reportedly called for a “police presence” at the scene.
What's underrated at this point is Rosalyn “Ross” Gold-Onwood's ability to finish the hit like a pro while O'Neal and Barkley audibly laugh at the situation.
The Pelicans are in Galveston.
Some teams just aren't worthy of Cancun. The 2024 New Orleans Pelicans were demoted to the postseason after a lackluster first round playoff run and getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Berkeley's blistering denunciation of the “dirty water” in the southeast Texas island city of Galveston showed that the show is as entertaining as ever, even as speculation grows about its fate.
Back to 1, 2, 1
One of the show's strengths is its deconstruction of the sports talk show format that “Inside” staffers sometimes join.
This moment, with Barkley dominating a segment ostensibly about a playoff game between the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blades, combined with O'Neal's sleazy personality, gives viewers some amusing insight into how a segment should be structured and how that structure can be subverted.
Contributor: Jordan Mendoza
