Ever since the deal was first announced last fall, much has been made about what Inside the NBA will look like when it airs on ESPN via a licensing agreement with TNT Sports next season. But while the bulk of that focus has been placed on how the Worldwide Leader might negatively affect the show from a content perspective, Charles Barkley has his own concerns about the logistics of the ESPN schedule.
After all, the most popular portion of Inside the NBA comes during postgame, in which the show can often linger into the early hours of the morning. And before being concerned about what subjects or talent ESPN might foist upon the program, its biggest star wants to know whether it will be given the airtime it needs to replicate that formula.
“We have questions,” Barkley admitted during an an interview with Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take. “Like normally the number one time on our show is after the game. You get like 45 minutes to shoot he sh*t. That’s the magic. But me and Ernie [Johnson] have talked about it. Like, are we gonna get to do that? Are they gonna say we gotta go to the SportsCenter?
“First of all, it’s an honor to work for ESPN because they’re the biggest sports network in the history of television. But like, when we have those 45 minutes and it’s like one o’clock in the morning and we can just go crazy and it gets weird — but are they gonna say, ‘no guys, y’all got 15 minutes. We gotta go to SportsCenter.'”
Co-host Dan “Big Cat” Katz expressed skepticism that ESPN would mess with success, noting how closely viewers and critics will be watching to makes sure the network doesn’t ruin the beloved studio show. Yet despite being happy that the show will continue after TNT lost its NBA rights, the Hall of Fame power forward appears to be preparing for the worst.
“Everybody can say right now, ‘yeah, we gonna leave everything the same,'” Barkley said. “But like if the game ends, is SportsCenter going say, ‘y’all got 45 minutes to shoot the sh*t.’ Or, ‘we need to go to SportsCenter in 15 or 20 minutes.’ It’s gonna be a learning curve.”
The concerns of Charles Barkley are valid — perhaps more so than the worries that ESPN will try to tinker with Inside the NBA from a content standpoint. It is, however, worth noting that the network will also launch its direct-to-consumer streaming service this fall, giving it newfound flexibility for its programming schedule.
To Barkley’s point, there will certainly be a “learning curve” early on and it would hardly be a surprise to see both the show and Disney-owned channel go through an initial period of trial and error. But despite his concerns, the 1993 NBA MVP reiterated that he’s glad that Inside the NBA will live on, primarily because of the number of jobs the licensing deal saved.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.