Adam Silver has a job to do as NBA commissioner when it comes to getting the best possible media rights deal for the league. The overall health of the sport depends greatly on it.
He also is a both a fan of TNT’s Inside The NBA, and friends with the four hosts that make up the league’s most-popular studio show. That’s made things a bit uncomfortable amid reports that Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT’s parent company, will likely be shutout of the league’s next rights package.
We’ve heard for awhile now that the deal is expected to be completed any day and moral around the show “sucks”, according to Charles Barkley. Ahead of Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Boston, Silver had a chance to address the media and said admitted it’s been difficult having the future of the show in limbo.
Adam Silver on Inside The NBA and the ongoing TV negotiations:
“The show, in particular, is special… no one likes this uncertainty. It's on the league office to bring these negotiations to a head and conclude them as quickly as we can." pic.twitter.com/OE9KnJs4o1
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) June 6, 2024
“I will say directly from me, directly to your question and the people who seem to be most impacted right now, the folks at Turner Sports, I apologize that this has been a prolonged process,” Silver said. “Because I know they’re committed to their jobs. I know people who work in this industry. It’s a large part of their identity and their family’s identity, and no one likes this uncertainty. I think it’s on the league office to bring these negotiations to a head and conclude them as quickly as we can.”
In most of his (many, many) comments on the future of the show, Barkley has centered the conversation less on the four panelists and more on the staffers at TNT who make the production what it is. It’s nice to hear Silver speak directly to them, limited as that relief may be.
In any case, it’s nice to see Silver address the less fun aspects of negotiating a new broadcast deal. Whatever the league gains in this round, it will always be remembered for killing Inside The NBA if TNT is shutout, even if it’s not Silver’s fault.
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