Fans Mourning Canceled Show After NBC Report About Iconic Franchise
NBA Insider Bill Simmons recently said on his podcast, The Bill Simmons Podcast, that the massive NBC offer to take the NBA rights from TNT is a done deal. While nothing has been officially confirmed, fans are already upset that this deal could mean that the beloved Inside the NBA basketball show could be coming to an end.
The show is loved both for its expert commentary on the current events of professional basketball and the hilarious camaraderie between hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson.
Inside The NBA Was The Greatest Sports Show
NBC put in a massive bid to get the NBA rights that are currently held by TNT and its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery. If Bill Simmons ends up being right, then those games will move to the new network, and Inside the NBA likely won’t be along for the ride. Simmons seems very sure in his comments about the situation, saying, “One of the funniest things ever is that we’re all pretending the TV deal wasn’t done like a week-and-a-half ago.”
Casualty Of NBC Winning The NBA Broadcast Rights
Bill Simmons is frequently right about things going on in the NBA business, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s announced that NBC has won the rights for the games. Warner Bros Discovery would have to put a ton of money, over $2.5 billion to be exact, to win the bid, and it doesn’t seem too likely the company would keep Inside the NBA going if it didn’t have the game content for fans to tune in to.
NBC’s extremely aggressive $2.5 billion bid is hard to beat, especially since Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav hasn’t been shy about cutting content and trying to save on expenses in all areas possible.
Greatest Post-Game Crew In History
This is another reason why the NBC deal might also signal the end for Inside the NBA. Part of the reason Inside the NBA has been able to develop such a dedicated fanbase is its perfect time slot that immediately follows the games that fans were watching. It’s easy to keep the TV on and watch as Shaq, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson go back and forth and break things down.
End Of An Era
However, if NBC has NBA games and people have to switch their channels to TNT to watch Inside the NBA, then the show may not get quite as many viewers. Plus, there’s also the fact that Charles Barkley himself said that he would become a free agent if the NBC deal goes through, which means the four hosts would be broken up regardless. It’s unclear if the others would stay or also jump ship for other networks.
Nothing Like Inside The NBA
In any case, it seems like bad news for NBA fans if the NBA deal goes through, at least in the sense that one of the best sports talk shows going would be kiboshed. Inside the NBA has some sort of special alchemical magic that makes it highly entertaining in its own right, and any variation to that formula would undoubtedly make for a lesser show.
There have been plenty of other networks like ESPN who have tried to make similar types of shows, and the verdict has been that there’s nothing quite like Inside the NBA.
