This past weekend marked the end of an era in sports broadcasting. As the Indiana Pacers clinched their first trip to the NBA Finals in over two decades, it was all shown during Inside The NBA‘s final broadcast on TNT. The long-running show had been on the network since 1989, and it will resume on ESPN this fall as part of a historic deal. While some may be happy the series will still be on the 2025 TV schedule, longtime sports analyst Bill Simmons isn’t optimistic about the new era of the beloved basketball show.
Inside The NBA has long been known for its wild antics, which occasionally make host Ernie Johnson feel like a “rogue traffic cop.” But, during an installment of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the eponymous host claimed that the move to ESPN could ruin the show. Surprisingly, it’s not because he’s of the thinking that the Disney-owned network would try to keep Charles Barkley from saying wild stuff, but because of the way it runs commercials:
I think ESPN is going to fuck the show up. I don’t care if I get aggregated…Unless they completely change how they do commercials. The show’s going to be different and people are going to be pissed. And Barkley and those guys are going to be pissed and I think it’s going to go badly.
It’s funny that Bill Simmons knew he’d make waves with his comment, as he was likely aware of the immense pull that he has in sports broadcasting. Of course, it’s still just an opinion, and do we really believe Charles Barkley would’ve renounced his retirement if he thought Inside The NBA would flop on ESPN?
Probably not, but it’s always possible that Barkley and the rest of the Inside crew weren’t thinking about the fundamental way the show could change beyond censorship issues. Bill Simmons went into that, noting the way ESPN currently conducts its NBA coverage, and how it would need to change to be closer to what’s been seen on TNT for decades:
The only way it doesn’t go badly is if they do the commercials and they give them the lengthy segments that you need to have that show work. They’re going to have to change how they do it. They just paid so much for the NBA, that if they don’t do that and they do these same short, terrible segments that you’re about to see in the Finals, where it’s like a one-and-a-half-minute halftime and a twenty-minute pregame. If they do that, they’re going to fuck the show up and everybody’s going to be mad. If they mess with any piece of this, everybody’s going to be mad.
All this being said, fans have yet to see a single episode of Inside The NBA on ESPN. There’s even a part of me that feels like Bill Simmons is only putting his opinion out into the world so that someone making decisions on how the program will run next season and can react appropriately to ensure no one is mad.
While Bill Simmons is right that ESPN’s basketball coverage does thrive on brevity and is very commercial-heavy, the network does house shows with long segments. First Take, The Pat McAfee Show, and others have very long blocks where people are talking. Maybe some of those segments can get just a bit shorter so that the network can let Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley do their thing.
It’ll be several months before we see what ESPN does, as Inside The NBA is officially off the air until the new NBA season kicks off in late October. I want to stay optimistic that the show will remain as fun as it has been in past years, with more moments like Shaq running to the bathroom and getting roasted by the rest of the panel. Until I’m proven otherwise, that’s where my head is at, and I’m going to hope for the best.
For now, know that the NBA Finals kick off on ABC on Thursday, June 5th at 8:30 p.m. ET. It should be an exciting series for those who love basketball, so be sure to check it out and wonder what Charles Barkley might have to say about it during the championship series.
