There likely will never be an NBA on TNT. But that’s not because of the talent—or lack thereof. Replicating what Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson have created with Inside the NBA seems nearly impossible, but that’s seemingly more because the network is not patient enough to allow a studio show with chemistry like that to form.
After offering a theory about why Warner Bros. Discovery lost its stronghold on NBA rights during a recent appearance on Podcast P with Paul George, Barkley wondered if anyone would ever be able to replicate the success or popularity of the NBA on TNT.
“I don’t know if anybody ever gives it a chance, to be honest with you,” Barkley said. “ESPN, which I love, they never give anybody a chance to get any chemistry. They’re all kind of throwing stuff at the wall, ‘Like, let’s put this group together,’ and they’ll do that for like six months to a year. And then they’re like, ‘It didn’t work.’ Well, you didn’t give it a chance to work…
“It’s easy to say, after 24 years, how great our show has been. And I can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure we had some rocky roads in the beginning. I’m positive we had some rocky roads when Shaq first came on because it’s always an adjustment.
“Cause it started out with Ernie and Kenny, then I came on, and we kind of like, ‘Hey, let’s figure it out. Let’s figure it out.’ But they didn’t say, ‘Hey, you guys got six months to a year. They’re like, ‘No, let’s keep working.’ And then Shaq came on, we had some rough things going.
“Shaq was really funny. Shaq says, ‘I gotta do something tonight.’ Then, the next week, he’s like, ‘I gotta do something tonight.’ Finally, we had to sit him down and said, ‘Yo, man, we got seven more months of this sh*t. You can’t try to outdo yourself.’ The joke around the studio was, ‘Man, we’re about a month from Shaq setting himself on fire.’ He was trying to outdo himself…We had to sit him down and say, ‘Calm down, we got a long a** season ahead.'”
Barkley continued by saying that he believes other networks are too impatient to allow their on-air personalities to build the kind of rapport necessary for success.
In essence, Barkley’s point is that replicating the magic of Inside the NBA is less about finding the right talent and more about fostering an environment where that talent can thrive.
