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NEW YORK — Ever since ESPN made its historic trade for TNT Sports’s Inside the NBA, questions have lingered about whether one or more of the current cast will jump ship before next season.
But here’s some good news for fans: ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro expects the Beatles of basketball to stay together when TNT licenses their iconic show to ESPN next season.
“I have not heard any false notes. My understanding is we’re keeping the band together,” Pitaro told Front Office Sports during a press briefing last week.
Pitaro would know. Back in November, he and TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser pulled off one of the most memorable swaps in sports media history.
With TNT losing its U.S. media rights after a 35-year relationship with the league, Inside the NBA was on the brink of cancellation. That’s when Pitaro swooped in with an offer: ESPN would trade an exclusive slate of Big 12 football and men’s basketball games to TNT in return for the licensing rights to the show. Silberwasser agreed—on the condition that TNT would retain full editorial control, the foursome would remain TNT employees, and the show would continue to be produced out of its long-time studio in Atlanta.
And so the deal was sealed, saving arguably the greatest sports studio show in history, with 21 Sports Emmys and counting. But the cast felt left out and bruised by essentially being traded just like the players they talk about. For months, there was will-they-or-won’t-they speculation about whether they’d show up on the set this fall, or hold out for some of that sweet Disney cash.
That situation has settled down in recent months. Barkley is still under contract to TNT under a mammoth 10-year, $210 million extension signed in 2022. FOS broke the news that Shaquille O’Neal had signed a long-term extension worth $15 million a year. Both Kenny Smith and host Ernie Johnson are expected to return as well, say sources.
The unpredictable Barkley is the wild card, of course. After months of bashing his bosses at TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery for bungling the NBA negotiations, he’s now daring ESPN to fire him before he ever appears on its air. Barkley has also publicly warned ESPN that he will say whatever he wants on the show. He continues to rip ESPN talents like Kendrick Perkins. And forget about running through the legendary ESPN “car wash” of studio shows like SportsCenter.
“I’m not going to change my personality. Ain’t nobody … they can’t fire me. I make too much money to get fired. So they can’t fire me. First of all, if they fire me, they got to pay me for seven years, and I’m going to quit way before then. But if they want to fire me, I would love for them to do that,” Barkley said on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.
“The only decision we’ve been making is how long I’m going to work. I’ve been going back and forth with TNT for the last two months whether I’m going to work two years or three years. But if I really wanted to, I could stay for seven years. There’s no chance of that happening. Zero. Zero. But I’m making a decision whether I’m going to stay two years or three years. But it’s more likely two years. But if they’re going to fire me, they’d have to pay me for seven [years], which they’re not going to do because I make too much money. So I’m not worried about getting fired. And nobody at ESPN is going to tell me what to say or do. Period.”
The Chuckster says a lot of things that he contradicts later on. For a guy who recoils at the thought of appearing on ESPN shows, he sure does a lot of interviews.
But Barkley is Barkley. ESPN has been lusting after him and his show for decades, constantly turning over the cast of NBA Countdown in a futile effort to compete with Inside the NBA. Even if Barkley & Co. give ESPN only two years on the air, Pitaro and ESPN president of content Burke Magnus would probably be thrilled. As for retiring in two years? We’ll see. As Bryan Curtis of The Ringer noted, Sir Charles has been threatening to retire for 10 years. Not to mention his brief flirtation with LIV Golf. In short, he’s one of the greatest negotiators in TV history.
The next few weeks will be bittersweet for TNT. The network will televise the eagerly awaited Knicks vs. Pacers Eastern Conference finals, but it will be the last playoff series televised by TNT in the United States, with NBA rights headed to ESPN, NBC Sports, and Amazon Prime Video next season.
Barkley’s Inside the NBA will shoot live on-site from New York and Indianapolis. Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy, and Allie LaForce will call the series while Warriors star Draymond Green will contribute to studio coverage.
