Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith are, no doubt, the lynchpins of Inside the NBA. However, many people work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the show possible. Throughout its tenure on TNT, the show’s crew has worked diligently to package an entertaining show for the audience. Barkley, though, refuses to believe that the long hours the team puts in is a necessity.
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In a phone-in interview with The Bettor Angle, Barkley discussed the work environment at the popular show, shedding light on the amount of time that the crew works. To this day Barkley has been perplexed as to why the job required that many hours. He said:
“Every time I go to work I ask them fools, ‘What time y’all been here?’ They’ve been there since like noon, and we’re going live at 7 o’clock. I’m like, what the hell have y’all been doing for seven hours? I think they’re full of crap. They’re like, ‘Well, we’ve been doing a lot.’ I said, ‘There’s nothing that takes seven hours.”
Perhaps some understanding on how a production crew goes about its job would apprise Barkley that seven or eight hours is standard, be it any show.
This provides the team ample time to ensure everything is working as per plan. In case a cable for a camera isn’t functioning to standard for instance, there’s enough time to replace it or assemble it for the camera, and test it ahead of the start time.
The full shift time for these crew members is even longer. The start time for the show prep is at noon, although they don’t go live until 7 pm. And typically, the Inside The NBA panelists start their show following the late NBA games at midnight, and carry on till 2 in the morning. This would put the production crew members on a 14-hour shift.
Jokes notwithstanding, Barkley understands that the show isn’t possible without the work the crew puts in. It is a given that the Hall of Famer has immense love for them. When uncertainty hung over the future of Inside The NBA, Barkley was more concerned for the crew and their jobs rather than himself.
With ESPN procuring the rights for the show from the 2025-26 season, things are set to continue. Barkley, though, got to know about the switch to the new platform the same time the rest of the world did. This despite being an insider.
Barkley was furious at TNT
Barkley has praised TNT aplenty for being an excellent place to work. However, their handling of the media rights of Inside The NBA didn’t please the former NBA star.
TNT, surprisingly, didn’t give Barkley a heads up regarding the future of the show.
“We have to hear it through the media. And even this thing with ABC/ESPN, I heard about it on the internet,” said Barkley. “Scott Van Pelt, Brian Windhorst, Elle Duncan, Bob Myers, all friends of mine who I really like a lot. They texted me, welcoming me to the ESPN family. I’m like, what happened? TNT didn’t even have the courtesy.”
Inside The NBA will be on TNT for the remainder of the 2024-25 NBA season. While ESPN will hold the rights to the show for the foreseeable future, the core of the program will remain the same.
