Uninterested in the “not funny” SNL 50 special, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo was stuck watching that bizarre ceremony for Inside the NBA Sunday night during the All-Star Game.
Despite Adam Silver recently urging players to take the All-Star Game seriously, the commissioner commissioned Kevin Hart to host the event and direct attention away from the basketball being played. Most notable was a mid-game ceremony for Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson, where it seemed like Hart was eulogizing Inside the NBA.
And while there was a time last year when fans wondered if we were nearing the end of Inside the NBA after Warner Bros. Discovery lost game rights for TNT Sports, a licensing agreement with ESPN ensured the popular studio show would continue next season and beyond.
Leaving many fans confused by Sunday night’s sendoff, Russo among them.
“That was really goofy. That we’re gonna sit here and put them in retirement outfits and say goodbye and then they’re gonna be with us next year. Be fair, that is a little odd.” – Chris Russo on All-Star Game ceremony for ‘Inside the NBA’ pic.twitter.com/6FN9tfJ60m
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 19, 2025
“We all know how important the show is, but he gave them fishing gear,” Russo said of Hart Wednesday morning on First Take. “And then they took 20 minutes…and then we take a timeout basically, the four of them saying goodbye. Goodbye?! They’re licensed next year to us! You’re gonna see them next year, what do you mean goodbye? They’re not going anywhere!
“Look at Ernie getting sentimental with Kyrie, and then Ernie’s basically saying to the crowd, ‘We loved it; it’s a sad day.’ Sad day? You four are gonna be all over the place next year right here! And then they took 20 minutes to do it, and the players didn’t like it…that was really goofy. That we’re gonna sit here and put them in retirement outfits and say goodby,e and then they’re gonna be with us next year. Be fair, that is a little odd.”
It was more than a little odd. Maybe Hart knows something we don’t know. But despite Barkley constantly trying to play the field and claiming he doesn’t know if ESPN is in his future, it seems like Inside the NBA will live on through the looming licensing agreement. It might air on a different network and night of the week, but ESPN and TNT Sports have both insisted little will change around the cast or production of that show.
There will be a time where it makes sense for the crew to say goodbye to TNT and celebrate the nearly four decade-long relationship the network enjoyed with the NBA. But a forcing a lengthy break, chock full of emotion and fishing gear, into the third game of the newly created All-Star tournament wasn’t it.
