The NBA on TNT has ended its 36-year run due to a new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal that shifts the league's game broadcasts to ESPN, NBC, and Amazon starting next season.
As such, TNT's popular studio show Inside the NBA , featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley , Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O'Neal , officially said goodbye in its current capacity on Saturday night after nearly four decades.
The show will continue to air on ESPN and ABC, with TNT retaining production control from its Atlanta studios. This move ensures the show remains largely unchanged, airing during key events like the Finals, playoffs, and marquee regular-season games.
But there are concerns that the 'Mothership' in ESPN will try to make changes. And O'Neal is eloquently voicing his own worries that the network might try to rein in the jovial atmosphere on set by reeling in Charles Barkley.
During the final broadcast of Inside the NBA, Shaquille O'Neal claimed the show would remain the same but still felt the need to issue a clear warning – we're still doing things our way.
"Even though the name changes, the engine is still the same," O'Neal said . "And to that new network we're coming to, we're not coming to (expletive) around. … We're taking over, OK? I love you guys and I appreciate you guys."
During an interview on The Pivot Podcast, though, Shaq wondered if Barkley would be able to keep the same off-the-cuff comic relief role he has had in his many years with Inside the NBA .
"If you look at the reality of the situation, we all re-signed, we're gonna be there, we're shooting in the same place, everybody's coming back. The name and the title is going to be different," he said. "The only thing I'm concerned with is, we're going on a bigger network, will they be able to handle our shenanigans?"
"Can Charles talk about fat women in San Antonio?" O'Neal wondered. "Can we talk about people's hairlines and make them cut their hair? That's the only thing I'm worried about."
Man, we sure hope so.
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Shaq went on to say he's looking forward to a new challenge with being on ESPN.
"It's a new beginning. It's a new challenge, and I'm hoping it's something that we can step up to," he said.
Still, the humor element and the camaraderie between Shaq, Barkley, Smith, and Johnson are a key element of the appeal of Inside the NBA.
For instance, during last year's NBA All-Star game, Charles took a hilarious jab at San Francisco, where the game was held.
O'Neal and Barkley did run into a bit of trouble back in April when they claimed former Portland Trail Blazers player Billy Ray Bates, who is very much alive, had died.
Johnson scolded both men at the time for even wondering on air about Bates and was later forced to apologize for their comments.
That said, will ESPN allow such amazing segments as we saw when Johnson stunned viewers by performing " My Shot " from the musical Hamilton ?
Hopefully, ESPN recognizes that this crew is beloved by NBA fans, and the humor is a major part of their appeal.
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