When considering ESPN’s decision to license the very famous “Inside the NBA” from TNT Sports, which is winding down its final season in the professional basketball business, it reaffirmed long-held opinions about the World-Wide Leader being the World-Wide Worst at producing NBA studio shows.
And sending out an SOS to Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley was not only an act of desperation but also amounted to ESPN suits throwing in the towel on their own NBA studio shows.
It was ESPN admitting (especially to its NBA studio talent, including Stephen A. Smith) that their NBA product was not capable of reaching the quality or creativity levels of the TNT production. Something (not someone) tells us that realization didn’t go down well with the healthy egos filling the chairs in ESPN’s multiple NBA studios.
Not to worry, shows like “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today” are not going away. But the Bristol Faculty’s urgent call to bring in TNT’s highly paid mercenaries is not exactly a vote of confidence for their two NBA studio shows, already known for a history of instability.
ESPN honchos can spin it anyway they want but they would be speaking with forked-tongue if “Inside the NBA” was not their marquee NBA studio show going into the 2025-26 season. This does not mean “Inside the NBA” will be floating on a sea of tranquility once it gets to ESPN next season. The ride will be choppy.
This is why the “Inside the NBA” crew and TNT Sports (owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) should have decided to pull the plug on “Inside the NBA” at the end of the 2024-25 season. Gonzo. Get out. Play the sad violin.
TNT lost its TV rights to NBA games and when the final curtain goes down this summer, “Inside the NBA” should be over too. After 35 years it’s time.
All good things must come to an end. Unless someone finds an outlet desperate enough to take a show like “Inside the NBA” off life support.
TV exits are rarely graceful. And while “Inside the NBA” will still be produced out of TNT’s Atlanta studio, these will be no days of joy at the figurative fishing hole.
The inevitable, uncomfortable public comparisons will be made between ESPN’s homegrown NBA shows, and the one the Bristol Faculty acquired for millions in the transfer portal. And with new NBA rightsholders, NBC and Amazon, there will be more competition in the studio mix.
And unless they have no-go clauses in their contracts, look for the TNT crew to pop up on shows like “First Take” and “Get Up,” increasing their workload. This alone, could lead to the TNT crew re-thinking their decision to bless “Inside the NBA’s” move to ESPN. Especially if O’Neal and Barkley have to continue dealing with the ever-changing perception of their personalities.
After the NBA All-Star Game USA Today’s Robert Zelinski wrote: “Barkley and Shaq: Two legends who have leaned more and more into making everything about themselves, mean-spirited jokes, and half-hearted analysis of the NBA’s current landscape in recent years.”
The heat will only increase when Barkley and Co. move to ESPN. Nonetheless, if the money is right, and you can keep long-time colleagues employed, dealing with “challenges” of The Show That Never Ends is worth it for the “Inside the NBA” crew.
Will they still be believers by the end of next season?
SAY NOTHING
The usually outspoken NBA analyst Tim Legler had nothing to say on ABC after Tom Thibodeau allowed Karl-Anthony Towns to return late in the game Sunday, after suffering a knee problem while on the wrong side of a Celtics blow-out-in-progress.
Legler’s blunt opinion would have shed some light on how Mr. Thibs handles these Knicks. Maybe Legler didn’t feel like talking because he was sitting in close proximity to Leon (Sphinx) Rose.
PS: Play-by-play man Mark Jones had nothing to say either.
CUE THE ST. JOHN’S LOVE
Brandon Tierney, the FAN Gasbag, has long admitted to being a St. John’s super fan.
He’s also the analyst on The Pitino Radio Network, working SJU games with play-by-play man John Minko.
Yet, Tierney is no tub thumper, at least during game radiocasts. His analysis is insightful and, for the most part, he provides balance.
Nonetheless, as SJU jolly stomps its way through the Big East, Tierney’s St. John’s soliloquies on FAN’s mid-day show have become more melodramatic.
Cue the violin music.
“The death of the St. John’s brand hurt me,” an emotional Tierney, sounding like he was on the verge of tears, oozed recently on WFAN. “It actually hurt my heart.”
Wait, there’s more, Tierney: “Rick [Pitino] is not here for one year. … It’s not one year. … Rick is home. … Rick is staying. This man is building buildings.”
At least he didn’t claim Pitino is currently preparing to leap tall “buildings.” Thanks.
BAN THE BEARD TALK
To hear the way it was handled in the Valley of the Stupid, and other media precincts, one would think Hal Steinbrenner’s decision to deep-six George Steinbrenner’s long-time beard ban was second in importance only to Mr. Hal signing Aaron Judge to a nine-year, $360 million contract.
The resident Gasbags were obsessed speculating which players the Yankees lost out on because they couldn’t keep their beards.
This was simply fascinating radio. Almost as riveting as the two- day discussion of Aaron Boone’s contract extension.
CHANGES AT YES
For the first time in the history of the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, John J. Filippelli won’t be holding down the fort as the network’s executive producer when the season opens.
Filippelli, the first YES employee hired by George Steinbrenner (Sept. 10, 2001) guided his YES team to 151 New York Emmy Awards, will move to a senior advisor role. Jared Boshnack, who joined YES on its launch date (March 19, 2002), will replace Filippelli as executive producer.
Boshnack has been responsible for YES’ highly acclaimed studio programming.
Among Filippelli’s many other notable accomplishments and achievements at YES, included him apparently borrowing strategy from Hall of Fame Yankees manager Casey Stengel, and instituting the Multi-Announcer Platoon System (MAPS).
MAPS was apparently designed to keep viewers guessing who would be working in the YES booth on a particular night.
* * *
RIP Michael Katz
RIP Al Trautwig
* * *
DUDE OF THE WEEK: GARY BETTMAN
He’s the one commissioner who has figured out a creative way to replace a boring mid-season All-Star Game with a riveting international competition: The 4 Nations. Although it may be just a one-off, the extravaganza will not soon be forgotten.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: DAN HURLEY
For letting his mouth out-run his brain. Since he let the Free World know he is the best coach in men’s college basketball, his UConn squad has not exactly been tearing up the Big East. Hurley is fortunate his Huskies don’t play in the SEC.
DOUBLE TALK
What Joe Schoen said: “We have a plan in place that we believe in and we’re going to stick with that.”
What Joe Schoen meant to say: “We had a plan in place last season. We believed in it. We stuck with it. Our 2025 plan can’t be any worse? Can it?”