NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has discussed the future of the much-beloved Inside the NBA show on TNT as the league negotiates a new media rights deal for the 2025-26 season and beyond.
The talk show, featuring former NBA players Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and host Ernie Johnson, has gained critical acclaim for its humorous and entertaining approach to discussing the game.
"That show in particular is special. I have a close relationship with everyone who's on that show, from the time they played in the league, as well, and Ernie and I have been friends forever," the league's top executive said.
Since its inception in 1989, the show has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards, but it could end after next season as TNT's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, appears to lack the capacity to bid for new NBA rights.
"At the same time, it makes me uncomfortable that it's zero sum, that at the end of the day there's only going to be so many television packages, there's only so many Finals games and playoff games and regular-season games to distribute," Silver admitted.
NBA on the verge of new media rights deals without TNT
The NBA is nearing an agreement on a new media rights deal worth $76 billion over 11 years, starting from the 2025-26 season with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon.
TNT is notably not included in the lucrative agreement, as Warner Bros. Discovery's heavy debt load makes it difficult for them to make a bigger bid than the current deal.
The existing NBA media rights deal, signed in 2014, is worth $24 billion and valid from 2016-17 to 2024-25 between ESPN and TNT.
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