Adam Silver: ESPN ‘always about more hardcore basketball’ than TNT

As Inside the NBA moves to ESPN, Adam Silver says it’s moving to a place that takes basketball more seriously than TNT.

With the NBA on TNT coming to an end, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson are taking their talents to ESPN and ABC next season. TNT will continue to produce the show from Atlanta and ESPN insists it has no interest in meddling. Fans, however, remain skeptical, with even Adam Silver seeming curious about how the relationship will play out.

Silver joined The Dan Patrick Show Wednesday morning, where he was asked about Barkley’s approach to covering the NBA.

“They made a decision to take an entertainment route with that studio show,” Silver said of Inside the NBA. “I think ESPN was always about more hardcore basketball. Maybe NBC was somewhere in the middle in the old days. But it’s an entertainment show and he’s entertaining, and fans seem to love it…Charles found a lane and he does it well.

“It will be interesting to see how that converts. As you know, they’re now bringing that studio show to ESPN and ABC next year. We’ll see how that works out. I love the fact that those guys are still gonna be involved in our telecast. But I’m not sure whether it will be produced differently for them or there will be a different expectation from ESPN and ABC fans or watchers than maybe what people are seeing late at night on TNT.”

ESPN has left Pat McAfee alone to continue being Pat McAfee since it began licensing his show nearly two years ago. So, there’s reason to believe it will do the same with Barkley and crew on Inside the NBA. The bigger question is, how much airtime will it be given? Inside the NBA ran from 7 p.m. to as late as 2 a.m. ET every Thursday night during the regular season on TNT. ESPN doesn’t have that type of space available.

It’s also interesting to hear Silver refer to ESPN as being “about more hardcore basketball.” ESPN covers the NBA more on a daily basis than TNT, which airs Law & Order, Charmed and NCIS reruns during the day. But on nights it had NBA games, TNT was all in.

Credit ESPN for having more credible NBA reporters and journalists on its coverage team, but that hasn’t stopped the network from having some head-scratching conversations about the league. Consider debates around NBA MVP voters holding racial bias or Anthony Edwards needing a wife and kids as examples.

There have also been previous reports that the NBA may have played a role in ESPN’s decision to part ways with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson two years ago. Silver has denied holding any influence over broadcast partners’ personnel decisions. But if Silver is now floating the idea that fans may hold Barkley and Shaq to a different standard on ESPN, it’s fair to wonder whether he’s planning to hold them to a different standard.