‘Unc’ Shannon Sharpe joined NBA fans in celebrating the continuation of ‘Inside the NBA’ past the 2024-25 season. On the ‘Nightcap’ show, Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco Johnson discussed the new licensing deal brokered by Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, that’ll allow the crew to stay together and run the show in the exact same way.
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“‘Inside the NBA’ will move to ESPN in 2025,” Sharpe said. “For fans, the biggest news [is] that Charles, Shaq, Kenny and Ernie will still be on live television. So that means, it’s still going to be produced out of Atlanta cause Ernie said he ain’t going nowhere.”
Charles Barkley had a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave if TNT couldn’t broadcast basketball games. But even before the bidding war for the NBA’s media rights began, Ernie Johnson made it clear that he would never depart from Turner Sports.
After all, it’s the network where he has built his Hall of Fame career since 1990. Along with Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, the ‘Inside Guys’ have “years of chemistry“, as Sharpe put it. No other cast of media members or former players could replace or replicate their unique mix of entertainment and analysis.
Unc and Ocho were visibly delighted that TNT had licensed ‘Inside the NBA’ to keep the iconic tandem together in 2025. They even recalled some of the show’s iconic moments through the years. “Remember when Kenny and Shaq were running to the board?…He pushed Shaq into the g*ddamn Christmas tree,” Ochocinco recalled. Another thing that became evident during the podcast was Sharpe’s respect for Ernie as he compared him to another monumental Johnson.
“Ernie is the perfect traffic cop…He getting his little digs in here and there, Ocho, but he doing – passing that thing off to everybody. He’s Magic [Johnson],” the three-time Superbowl champion added.
Much like Magic with the Lakers, Ernie’s unwavering loyalty towards TNT paid off in the end. Though Warnes Bros. lost the NBA’s media rights to ABC/ESPN, Comcast and Amazon, they will get to continue producing their hallmark show in-house at Studio J in Atlanta.
The one difference is that from next season, Ernie, Shaq, Chuck and Kenny will appear on ESPN and ABC. O’Neal is the only member yet to negotiate his extension with the network, but it’s unlikely that the four-time NBA champion will break up this winning core.
It’s the first time since 1988 that TNT will not broadcast NBA games in the US. Instead, they have the rights to broadcast games in South America (excluding Brazil) and Poland.
