With TNT’s deal with the NBA ending after the season 2024-25, an almost four-decade-long partnership between the league and the $13 billion dollar TV network has got to a dead end. Inside the NBA, the NBA program we grew up watching on the TNT network might not be there the next year to give the fans insights. It features a panel including veterans like Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal on a single platform. Though Charles Barkley has already expressed concern, Shaquille O’Neal’s transfer to another network seems improbable.
Even the host of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Bill Simmons, commented on the expiry of the decades-long deal and the dismantling of the post-match discussion panel, “Barkley and Kenny, they’re gonna be a package deal. The NBA wants to keep Barkley and Kenny as a post game show for one of the three streamers, …NBC Peacock, ESPN, and Amazon.” However, Shaq’s transfer to another network, as per Bill, is still “probable.” Bill backed up the fact with Shaq’s contract necessary to get into a new network. Even O’Neal himself confirmed that he is not thinking about going to another network on The Big Podcast.
For now, Shaq is reportedly earning $10 million every season for his appearance on the TNT show Inside The NBA. With about 13 years of game analysis on the show, the former NBA MVP is quite “confident” that the show will prevail on the TNT network. The former revealed it during his conversation with the Daily Mail. Yet the lingering question regarding the uncertainty of NBA rights is still haunting the fans. They fear losing one of the most elite basketball panels on television.
ADVERTISEMEN