Adam Silver urges ‘Inside the NBA’ to ‘keep the band together’

Adam Silver may have aided the NBA’s break-up with TNT, but he’s still pleading to keep Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal together with Inside the NBA.

Silver joined the latest episode of O’Neal’s, The Big Podcast with Shaq, and during the conversation, the commissioner acknowledged the value Inside the NBA brings to the league.

“I’ll be self-critical here about the job the league is doing, I think we have to do a better job and not just leave it to commentators, critics, fans, to tell those great stories about the game itself,” Silver said. “Thanks to Turner, Inside the NBA, nobody does it better than you guys. Which gives me an opportunity to say, Shaq, keep the band together!”

While this is the final season of the NBA on TNT, Inside the NBA is slated to remain together through a licensing agreement with ESPN. As part of a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA, Inside the NBA will air on ESPN and ABC next season. O’Neal, however, is unsigned beyond this year and Charles Barkley has claimed he is listening to NBC and Amazon about what they have to offer, creating some skepticism around the future of what is widely considered the best studio show in sports.

Like most NBA fans, Adam Silver hopes Inside the NBA will continue. And if anyone assumed Silver might have an issue with Inside the NBA’s tendency to be blunt or honest, O’Neal was quick to explain the show’s willingness to criticize current players.

“I was taught as a youngster that if people are going to pay to watch you perform, you put on a show,” O’Neal said. “It’s not us just hating, it’s like, ‘Hey, we don’t think you put on a show tonight. We think you need to put on a show to protect this thing of ours.’”

“The greatest form of caring is honesty,” Silver told Shaq. “And I think there is that sense from you and your crew, Inside the NBA, that you’re in the family and the things you’re saying are coming from the heart. So, I love the show and I appreciate that fact that you guys are willing to be direct. It doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody has to agree all the time either. But it’s an honest point of view.”

An honest point of view that might not be for everyone, with former analyst and current Los Angeles Lakers head coach, JJ Redick recently criticizing the negativity that’s often portrayed by NBA media. As a fan, Adam Silver is right for wanting Inside the NBA to stick together. But as commissioner, he wouldn’t be wrong for asking them to be a little more diplomatic.