Luka Doncic, and other NBA players on new teams we’re excited to see
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SAN FRANCISCO – The idea of not working NBA All-Star Weekend didn’t register with TNT’s Kenny Smith until a friend asked him a question this week.
“My friend asked, ‘Are you going to come to All-Star Weekend next year?’ Smith told USA TODAY Sports from the green room at Pier 48, down the street from Golden State’s Chase Center. He was preparing to appear with TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA” crew for a show before the Minnesota-Oklahoma City game.
“I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He says, ‘Well, NBC does it after this season.’ When my friend asked me that question, I had never thought about it.”
Shaquille O’Neal knows where he will be next year when NBA All-Star Weekend is in Los Angeles.
“I’m going to Barbados,” O’Neal said. “I’ve never had a vacation for All-Star Weekend.”
As part of the NBA’s new 11-year, $76 billion TV deal starting next season, ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video will televise NBA games.
The future of “Inside the NBA” starring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, O’Neal and Smith was in jeopardy for a brief time, causing consternation from fans to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
But in an arrangement of TV genius, TNT licensed the rights of “Inside the NBA” to Disney, and the show will continue on ESPN/ABC. TNT deserves recognition for its background work to keep the Emmy Award-winning show alive.
There are specifics to figure out, but the four-person crew will be part of NBA coverage on TV next season. The show, when not on the road, will be based in TNT’s Atlanta studio, and longtime TNT staffers – the people the on-air stars are familiar with – will produce the show. It will air approximately 45 to 52 times per season, but it will no longer appear on Thursdays, because Prime Video will have a Thursday doubleheader starting in January.
ESPN said in a news release, “Inside the NBA” 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.”
The days it will air remain unknown, and the format is undetermined. Will it last an hour? Thirty minutes? There are concerns, and Barkley wants to know the schedule. He hasn’t worked more than one day a week during his TNT years.
“I’m not going to go to work three days a week,” he said. “That’s not going to happen.”
It is possible he works two days a week – perhaps Saturdays and Sundays when ESPN/ABC has games.
Smith wants to ensure the show has the time to do what it has always done. “Will we have the ability to say what we say over the same real estate, or are we going to be living in a condo, in shorter space?” Smith said.
He added: “I feel Chuck is the best at the business of what he does. Shaq is the best of the business at what he does, and I’m the best at what I do. And you put those three together with Ernie being the best at what he does, we’re the best show on television. So we have to have some clarity.”
Barkley: ‘I’m not doing the car wash’
Barkley also made it clear he isn’t appearing on several other ESPN shows, saying he got a taste of ESPN’s content churn following the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Lakers trade.
“ESPN called, and they sent me five shows to do,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘Y’all think I’m doing all five of these shows? You’re out of your (expletive) mind.’ I said, ‘Pick one show.’ ”
Because ESPN’s Mike Greenberg reached out to Barkley, that’s the show Barkley did. “We call it the car wash,” Barkley said. “They will put you through the car wash. I’m not doing the car wash.”
Smith and O’Neal might be more amenable to more ESPN appearances.
Barkley had another concern, one with significant importance to him. When he heard about behind-the-scenes “Inside the NBA” crew members worrying about their livelihoods, he understood it was imperative to find a way to continue the show.
“People I’ve been with for 25 years were talking about getting fired and not having a job, with a mortgage and kids in college,” Barkley said. “And to be honest with you, I felt like an (expletive) because I’ve never ever been around people who actually had to worry about that before in the NBA.
“None of my teammates ever mentioned a mortgage or paying for their kids’ college. I had developed that mentality. And then that really became my like, ‘Yo man, how can we keep these people working?’ ”
“Inside the NBA” will continue. And staffers will have jobs. All-Star Weekend will become a holiday for the crew, and Barkley will appear on ESPN’s roster of talk shows – sparingly.
