At this point, we know that Inside the NBA is heading to ESPN next season.
Who will be coming with it, however, remains to be seen.
While most have celebrated the news of Warner Bros. Discovery licensing Inside the NBA to the Worldwide Leader as a part of its settlement with the NBA, the popular studio show isn’t totally staying intact — at least not yet. As noted by Sports Illustrated‘s Jimmy Traina, Shaquille O’Neal currently isn’t under contract with WBD past the 2024-25 NBA season, creating at least the possibility that he won’t be joining his Inside the NBA castmates on ESPN airwaves next year.
“O’Neal has a slightly different deal than his three castmates because they do other things for WBD, including the NCAA tournament. Shaq’s deal is strictly for the NBA and it’s up in about eight months,” writes Traina. “While sources say Shaq wants to remain on the show, he’s frustrated that there has been congratulations and press releases hyping that Inside the NBA is remaining the same while he is currently not under contract to be with the company next season.”
While Traina notes that O’Neal wants to remain with Inside the NBA and The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand previously reported that the four-time NBA champion is likely to re-sign, until that actually happens, his impending free agency looms as one of the biggest potential stories in sports media. As NBC and Amazon build out their own NBA teams ahead of next season’s rights deal going into effect, it’s hard to think of a bigger potential target than O’Neal — both literally and figuratively.
At this point, all signs point to the 52-year-old remaining with Inside the NBA, which will remain a WBD property even as it airs on ESPN. But until pen gets put to paper, this will be one worth monitoring, especially considering O’Neal’s reported frustration with how the high profile announcement has been handled in recent days.
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.