By almost all previous accounts, ESPN has no plans to interfere with “Inside the NBA” when the iconic studio show transitions from TNT to its own networks next season.
But concerns linger that ESPN will do something to mess things up, specifically around the timing of the show. Will ESPN — a network that doesn’t do dedicated NBA postgame coverage — continue to allow “Inside the NBA” to run as usual after games?
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Per a report on Monday, it will. Front Office Sports reported further details about the show’s move to ESPN’s networks starting in the 2025-26 season — most notably that “Inside the NBA” will be allowed “extensive” postgame run after games that air on ESPN networks, including its parent network, ABC.
From the report:
“There will be an extensive post-game show, say sources. ESPN’s goal is to let the post-game segment run as long as it does now on TNT.”
That’s cause for relief for the show’s loyal viewers, many of whom have watched some combination of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal guide and entertain them after NBA games for decades. The show is appointment viewing for fans, even when the games that the show covers are not.
Despite that reassurance, there’s been legitimate reason for concern that ESPN won’t give “Inside the NBA” the runway that it’s enjoyed at TNT. ESPN’s track record with decisions around NBA studio content is dicey at best and a big reason that chairman Jimmy Pitaro outsourced it to “Inside the NBA” when he saw the chance.
Kenny Smith was skeptical
Smith raised those concerns in an interview with the New Yorker after the TNT/ESPN partnership was announced.
“We have the same crew of people doing the show,” Smith said. “But the timing: Are we a half hour now? Are we forty-five minutes? Fifteen minutes?
“Those are the things that you can control when you own your I.P. But we don’t. That was the only part that made me uncomfortable and disheartened, because I felt that the four of us should have went into ABC to negotiate that deal. I’m not saying that our executives don’t know how to do that, but we are the I.P. now.”
Will unfiltered Charles Barkley run on ABC airwaves?
Podcaster and former ESPN writer and personality Bomani Jones floated concern about “Inside the NBA” running as a dedicated postgame show on Monday while raising another question. Is ESPN really going to let Charles Barkley speak unfiltered in postgame coverage over the traditional and inherently more conservative airwaves of ABC?
“My concern about taking ‘Inside’ to ESPN, ESPN historically has not done postgame shows,” Jones said in an edited clip from his show Monday morning. “If you’re not gonna do the ‘Inside the NBA’ postgame show, you’re getting rid of the best part.
“It doesn’t seem like it’ll be a gratifying experience. But they also can’t put that on ABC. That would be preposterous.”
What happens to SVP, other ESPN shows?
There’s also the subject ESPN’s existing coverage. ESPN has an established postgame routine that features one of its own strongest brands, “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.”
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Is ESPN going to preempt Van Pelt in favor of an outsourced product? SVP’s show frequently features an immediate postgame interview with the star of the game, which is also the turf of “Inside the NBA.” Doing both shows at the same time on different ESPN networks doesn’t make much sense.
Then there’s ESPN’s much-maligned existing studio coverage that handles pregame and halftime coverage that’s also the turf of the “Inside the NBA” team.
ESPN previously announced that “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today,” will continue to air in some form. So “Inside the NBA” isn’t fully replacing ESPN’s NBA studio coverage.
Reports continue to indicate that ESPN will not tinker with “Inside the NBA.” But the network has yet to provide details of its plans about how and when the show will air. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for TNT)
(Michael Loccisano via Getty Images)
How will these properties all co-exist?
The FOS report didn’t address specifics. And ESPN did not comment on how “Inside the NBA will be scheduled.” But thanks to its extensive collection of networks, ESPN does have options. If the game airs on ABC, ESPN would have the option of tossing postgame “Inside the NBA” coverage to ESPN.
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Would it use a similar strategy to juggle “Inside the NBA” with SVP’s SportsCenter? Airing both in competing time slots on different ESPN networks seems equally preposterous. They’re both marquee, spotlight shows that demand access to postgame coverage from the arena.
It would appear to be a one or the other decision for ESPN, with Monday’s FOS report suggesting that “Inside the NBA” will have priority over SVP in whatever decision is made.
But again, ESPN has not confirmed scheduling specifics. It has confirmed in previous statements that “TNT Sports will continue to independently produce ‘Inside the NBA'” in addition to providing the following broader framework for when the show will air:
“The legendary ‘Inside the NBA’ studio team will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events, including ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals, NBA playoffs, all ABC games after January 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events.”
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Will ESPN’s established studio show be relegated to covering games that aren’t considered “marquee” or “high-profile?”
A lot of these questions remain unanswered, perhaps because ESPN hasn’t yet figured the details out. Until it does and we see “Inside the NBA” on ESPN’s networks, we won’t be fully sure what the merger will look like.
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