Charles Barkley reckons ESPN could never recreate Inside The NBA and thinks network ‘never give anybody a chance’

CHARLES Barkley recently joined NBA star Paul George’s podcast and revealed whether he believed the popular basketball show Inside The NBA could be replicated.

Inside The NBA is hosted by Ernie Johnson, a broadcaster for TNT Sports, and features former basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal , Kenny Smith, and Barkley .

YouTube/Podcast P with Paul George

YouTube/Podcast P with Paul George

However, Warner Bros. Discovery’s nine-year deal is set to end after the 2024-2025 NBA season, as per The Athletic, which will spell the end of Inside The NBA.

The NBA announced it had signed 11-year agreements to air games on Amazon Prime Video, Disney, and NBC.

Inside The NBA has been enjoyed by basketball fans nationwide since 1989 on the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TNT Sports .

Barkley believes networks like ESPN would not be able to recreate the popularity and success of the program the star was a part of since 2000.

“I don’t know if anybody ever gives it a chance, to be honest with you,” Barkley said

“ESPN, which I love, they never give anybody a chance to get any chemistry.

“They’re all kind of throwing stuff at the wall, ‘Like, let’s put this group together,’ and they’ll do that for like six months to a year.

“And then they’re like, ‘It didn’t work.’ Well, you didn’t give it a chance to work.”

Fans took to social media and agreed with Barkley’s thoughts.

“It’s not possible the culture at Turner is very different from ESPN,” speculated one fan.

“Also their production, it’s pretty much 4-minute commercials and 1-minute analysis during their games,” a second wrote to X.

“They’re also more focused on political issues as opposed to just having fun like you guys do,” slammed a third.

“Too many executives holding too many meetings to be too scripted and too perfect,” claimed a fourth.

Despite Inside The NBA ending after next season, Barkley has vowed to commit to the 10-year agreement he signed in 2022 with Warner Bros Discovery.

What the new TV deal means for the NBA?

By The U.S. Sun's Assistant Sports Editor Damian Burchardt.

THE new TV rights deal is promising to be a humongous win for NBA players.

The league is set to more than double the revenue coming from its media partners, pocketing about $6.9 billion per year, which will inevitably lead to a huge salary cap spike in 2025-26.

That is going to send the value of player contracts skyrocketing.

Projected figures suggest we might see the first $100 million-per-year deal being signed soon.

Currently, Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum is projected to earn the highest single-season salary in NBA history, collecting $71.5 million in 2029-30.

If TNT Sports successfully matches one of the offers to maintain its decades-long partnership with the league, hoops fans will be on the winning side too.

The network’s flagship, Inside the NBA, is a one-of-a-kind sports entertainment show , as evidenced by ESPN’s ongoing failure to come up with its own version of the program in recent years.

The NBA wouldn’t be the same without Kenny and Ernie trying to make sense of Shaq and Chuck’s never-ending bickering every Tuesday night.

He expressed his excitement about continuing with the company after previously saying he would retire after the 2024-2025 NBA season.

“I love my TNT Sports family. My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible,” Barkley said.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them both on the shows we currently have and new ones we develop together in the future.”

Meanwhile, Warner Bros Discovery reportedly still has big plans for Barkley , even with TNT losing its rights to the NBA .

Puck News sports correspondent John Ourand was a guest on the SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast.

And he said WBD believes Barkley is “still a bona fide television star” who could contribute more to its sports coverage or even news coverage in the future.

“He’s great on television. And they have other sports that are there.

“They have March Madness, Barkley has been part of their hockey coverage here and there, and they want to just do more in sports, and he could expand from just doing NBA to being a sports commentator perhaps.”