Charles Barkley agreed to work for at least two more years with ESPN and TNT, but still doesn’t know what he’s going to be doing.
With the Eastern Conference Finals coming to an end, so did the NBA on TNT. Warner Bros. Discovery lost NBA game rights for TNT, ending their 35-year partnership. Inside the NBA, however, will live on next season through a licensing agreement with ESPN. And after nearly a year of Barkley hesitating to publicly commit to the next installment of Inside the NBA, he finally agreed to the deal.
Barkley joined The Dan Patrick Show Monday morning and said he committed to doing two more years with TNT, and subsequently ESPN. But with Inside the NBA set to air on ESPN, TNT is building a show featuring Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson that will air on their network. And according to Barkley, it’s not going well.
“We taped a pilot about a month ago, and it was the stupidest s**t I’ve ever seen in my life.” 😅
– Charles Barkley discusses the plan for Inside the NBA on TNT, despite not having the rights to NBA footage. pic.twitter.com/bdZwOza2Nn
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 2, 2025
“TNT is trying to do something stupid behind the scenes,” Barkley told Patrick. “We taped a pilot about a month ago and it was the stupidest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life. Cause we’re not gonna be on ESPN as much as people think…we’re only probably gonna be working for ESPN like half the time.”
Patrick clarified that Inside the NBA will air on ESPN next season, but TNT still wants to create separate show featuring the same cast on their own network, which Barkley confirmed is correct.
“We’re probably going to work on ESPN one-third or half the time,” Barkley explained. “But they’re trying to do something stupid at TNT. Which is a stupid idea for a couple reasons. Number one, we won’t have basketball highlights. But also, we’re probably gonna be going up against a NBA game. And anybody who likes basketball, they’re not gonna say, ‘Hey, you know what? Let me turn off a NBA game on Amazon, ESPN, or NBC to go watch these four dudes sit around and talk about nothing’ …we taped a pilot doing stupid stuff and it was just stupid stuff. I wouldn’t want to go out like that.”
“I’ll give TNT credit,” Barkley added. “They did say it was an awful pilot… but I guess they want to feel like they’re doing something to make us earn our money from TNT.”
Barkley said the new installment of Inside the NBA will be called Inside the NBA on ESPN/ABC and told Patrick the pilot for TNT was also called Inside the NBA. But Outside the NBA might be a better name for the pending TNT show.
“You know the thing that was hilarious about it, Dan? We didn’t have any NBA,” Barkley said of the pilot. “We can’t show highlights.”
It’s great that TNT Sports figured out a way to continue Inside the NBA next season by way of ESPN. But hopefully the pilot they’re working on won’t make a mockery of the show’s beloved cast. They’re great TV talents, but Inside the NBA relies on having the NBA just as much as it relies on having Barkley, Shaq, Kenny and Ernie. And if Barkley’s assessment is correct, forcing them into a show without the NBA might be a mistake.
