As the NBA regular season comes to a close, so does TNT Sports’ Tuesday night coverage of the league, which joined the network five years ago.
TNT will say a lot of goodbyes to the NBA in the coming months as they conclude their 35-year partnership. The first of which came this week, when Adam Lefkoe, Shaquille O’Neal, Candace Parker and Vince Carter signed off the NBA on TNT Tuesday Night franchise for the last time. And as Lefkoe said goodbye late Tuesday night, it wasn’t without emotion.
“It takes an army to put this show on and it ends up being your family. And I’m going to try to keep it together right now.” – Adam Lefkoe pic.twitter.com/nMXJg9Hj0b
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 9, 2025
“It takes an army to put this show on and it ends up being your family. And I’m going to try to keep it together right now,” Lefkoe said before imploring TNT not to give him a solo shot.
“When we’re in the makeup room, it feels like a cookout and we love every single one back there,” Lefkoe continued as he thanked the entire crew. “I remember the first time that I hosted it. I came in and I thought people were going to be nice and slow and ease me in. They just said, ‘no.’ And you just realize that’s the way it is here, and I want to say thank you to all of these people. They are beautiful and hardworking and they do everything to the best of their abilities.”
After decades of success with the NBA on TNT airing Thursday nights, TNT Sports announced plans to add a Tuesday night edition of the franchise in 2019 with Lefkoe as host. The franchise’s start was anything but conventional, officially launching in Feb. 2020, after being delayed a week so the network could air a tribute to Kobe Bryant following his death. One month later, the NBA would shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the unconventional hurdles to start, the NBA on TNT Tuesday Night would eventually find its footing and distinguish itself from Inside the NBA to enjoy a successful five-year run. A run that is only coming to an end because Warner Bros. Discovery couldn’t reach a deal with the league to keep games on TNT.
But while Inside the NBA will live on through a licensing agreement with ESPN beginning next season, the NBA on TNT Tuesday Night run came to a close this week.
“This has been a dream gig,” Lefkoe said. “And I can’t believe that we’ve been doing it for five years.”
