Tag: Inside the NBA

LeBron James’ wild dunk did not impress Charles Barkley as he continues to criticize the Lakers

How did Charles Barkley not appreciate THIS?!

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James had one of the coolest dunks of the season, possibly the best we will ever see from a 40-year-old.

But despite the undeniably incredible athletic accomplishment, Inside the NBA analyst and longtime pro Charles Barkley was unimpressed.

“It must have been a beautiful play,” Barkley sarcastically said on the TNT broadcast. “We showed it 22 times.”

Ernie Johnson asked Barkley if he thought that play was worth it and Barkley responded.

“Not 22 times,” he added. “We didn’t have to show it a hundred times.”

Lakers head coach JJ Redick and Barkley have recently had a back-and-forth beef about how Inside The NBA covers the league.

Barkley said the Lakers “stink” and called them a “bunch of bums” after the loss on Tuesday night.

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Shaq was pushed into the Christmas tree by Kenny Smith yet again on Inside the NBA

How does Shaq keep falling (literally!) for this?

Fool him once, shame on Kenny Smith. But fool him twice, shame on Shaq.

During a segment on Thursday night’s edition of Inside the NBA on TNT, we saw them dive deep into their bag of tricks to pull out off a class prank. This included Smith tricking O’Neal into walking toward the Christmas tree on the set to grab one of his gifts.

Smith, exactly like he has in the past, then pushed the four-time NBA champion directly into the tree. O’Neal absolutely should have seen this coming considering he has fallen victim to this so many times before.

It was either a well-timed maneuver from Smith or O’Neal was in on the bit.

If the longtime NBA big man was indeed part of the joke, he probably could have had a decent career in stunt comedy or professional wresting because he took that fall fairly well.

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Shaq accidentally broke the Inside the NBA big video board by slapping it

Shaq!!

Shaquille O’Neal is a very powerful person, but he let his strength hilariously get the best of him during Tuesday night’s Inside the NBA.

During halftime of the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks game, something caused Shaq to go and slap the big video board behind the show’s panelist desk.

Well, when he did, he accidentally broke the video board. Something malfunctioned after the slap, causing the board to glitch a big rectangle on the screen to mess up the video display.

Seriously, he broke it. When Kenny Smith went to show a highlight from the game, the entire display was off in that one rectangle. Nice going, Shaq!

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Shaq reportedly does not have a contract for Inside the NBA before its big ESPN syndication

Would this show even work without Shaq?

Now that we know Inside the NBA will air on ESPN, the good news is that the iconic TV program will continue beyond just this season.

There is still a lot we do not know, however, and that includes whether or not Shaquille O’Neal is part of the team. While there was some talk that Charles Barkley would retire from sports media at the end of the 2024-25 season, he has since change his mind and will return to Turner Sports.

Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith will also remain with the network and will continue the show during its migration to ESPN. But as for Shaq, his future is actually uncertain.

Here is more from Jimmy Traina (via Sports Illustrated):

“Sources say O’Neal’s contract with WBD expires on July 1, 2025.

O’Neal has a slightly different deal than his three castmates because they do other things for WBD, including the NCAA tournament. Shaq’s deal is strictly for the NBA and it’s up in about eight months.

While sources say Shaq wants to remain on the show, he’s frustrated that there has been congratulations and press releases hyping that Inside the NBA is remaining the same while he is currently not under contract to be with the company next season.”

The show would simply not be the same without Shaq, whose chemistry especially with Barkley is unparalleled.

Shaq still has plenty of time to strike a deal with either Warner Brothers Discovery, ESPN, Amazon, or NBC before next season begins.

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Social media reacts to ‘Inside The NBA’ heading to ESPN, ABC next season: ‘They’ll cover the Finals, we are so back’

NBA fans got huge news on Saturday: The ‘Inside The NBA’ show will be back. Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal are heading to ESPN and ABC next season as part of an out-of-court settlement between Warner Brothers …

NBA fans got huge news on Saturday: The ‘Inside The NBA’ show will be back. Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal are heading to ESPN and ABC next season as part of an out-of-court settlement between Warner Brothers Discovery and the NBA.

Here’s how social media initially reacted:

Inside the NBA has been saved as Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney reportedly reach license deal

Rejoice! Inside the NBA isn’t going anywhere.

This story has been updated. 

After months of concern about the future of Inside the NBA, the beloved television program will reportedly live to see another day.

The Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Flint reported on Saturday night that Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have reached an agreement to license the basketball show to Disney for broadcast on ESPN and ABC.

The show will start airing on both networks after the 2024-25 season concludes.

CNBC’s Alex Sherman confirmed the deal and said that the Inside the NBA talent will remain TNT Sports employees and can be used on future Warner Bros. Discovery sports programs. That means you’ll still see Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley for March Madness coverage, for example.

This is a huge decision for both media companies that should preserve Inside the NBA for years to come with a new home.

The move comes as Warner Bros. Discovery settled its breach of contract lawsuit with the NBA that Flint reports will keep the company in business with the league for the next decade.

“While Warner Bros. Discovery is losing rights to regular and postseason games for its TNT network after this season, the settlement will give it rights to a significant amount of NBA content domestically and abroad, the people said, and the league will avoid a continued legal battle in court,” Flint reported.

“Warner Bros. Discovery’s efforts to retain some NBA content even after losing its grip on a long-held rights package underscores how valuable live sporting events are and the lengths media companies will go to keep a piece of the action for their cable and streaming customers.”

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Charles Barkley was so awful on Who He Play For and guessed a team that doesn’t exist

Charles Barkley continues to not have any idea who these guys play for.

Death, taxes, and Charles Barkley appearing on on the Inside the NBA segment “Who He Play For” with incorrect guesses.

These are all inevitable truths about existence and Barkley confirmed the latter yet again with a putrid performance on Thursday night. During his latest appearance for NBA on TNT, the former NBA MVP reminded fans around the world just how bad he is at this game.

The rules are simple: His co-hosts name a player and Barkley simply has to tell the viewers at home what uniforms that individual wears. But sadly, his knowledge of role players around the league is fairly minimal and he always strikes out.

This year was no exception was Barkley got just one correct and it was after a clue from his co-host, Kenny Smith.

Perhaps his lowest moment was guessing the “New Jersey Nets” for Taj Gibson, which is particularly shocking because that team does not exist. The Nets moved to Brooklyn in 2012.

Barkley also failed to correctly identify which team employs Garrett Temple, which is particularly surprising because Temple is a recurring theme of this segment. His employment status is asked every year, so Barkley easily could have studied up on that player in particular.

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Is TNT’s Inside the NBA done after the 2024-25 season? Here’s the latest.

Enjoy Inside the NBA while you still can.

The NBA season tips off on Tuesday, and fans watching on TNT will be probably be quick to notice a nostalgic tone in both the pregame show and broadcast.

TNT’s award-winning studio show, Inside the NBA, is heading into its 35th season. But rather than celebrating the successful run and looking forward to the future, it’s going to be a goodbye for Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.

After a lengthy bidding process, the NBA opted to reach an 11-year agreement with Amazon, Disney and NBC Universal starting in the 2025-26 season. That meant that Warner Bros. Discovery — formerly Turner Sports — lost out on its bid to retain the NBA rights.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1848786506938520064

What’s the latest on the show’s status?

While Warner Bros. Discovery is in a Hail Mary lawsuit with the NBA to retain the rights, the expectation is that this will be the final season for NBA basketball on TNT and Inside the NBA as a studio show.

And despite the lack of NBA basketball, Charles Barkley is remaining with Warner Bros. Discovery to commentate on its other properties like March Madness, NHL, MLB, golf and maybe we’ll even see Chuck talk about some U.S. soccer. They’ll keep him busy.

Still, it’s the end of an era for NBA fans, and Inside the NBA is almost definitely done after this season.

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Inside the NBA lineup: Who’s on TNT’s pregame show in 2024-25?

Here’s the full Inside the NBA lineup.

We are witnessing the best pregame show there is on television, perhaps for the last time. 

It’s Inside the NBA, TNT’s hoops pregame show that continues to be endlessly entertaining, innovative, funny, honest and headline-grabbing.

And if you’re here, you may be wondering who these amazing personalities are, If so, you’ve come to the right place.

The host is Ernie Johnson, and he’s joined by Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

At times, you may see Adam Lefkoe host with O’Neal, Candace Parker, Jamal Crawford and Vince Carter.

There’s all the info you need to know! Enjoy the show.

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TNT put together an awesome tribute to Inside the NBA ahead of the show’s 35th and final season

No, YOU’RE crying.

The opening of the 2024-25 NBA season will certainly be a bittersweet evening across the Turner studios in Atlanta on Tuesday. With the award-winning studio show Inside the NBA heading into its 35th season, it will also be the last season we’ll get to see Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal together behind the desk.

Despite some litigation in an attempt to retain the NBA television rights, Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly Turner Sports) is all but certain to lose NBA broadcasting privileges after this season. It will be the end of an era for NBA fans, and team Inside the NBA team put together such a good tribute to the show on Tuesday.

Check it out:

No, YOU’RE crying.

It’s the best studio show in American sports, and the league just won’t be the same without it next year (and beyond).

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