The future of “Inside the NBA” was already a sensitive topic when Charles Barkley stepped into an elevator in Minneapolis after Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Friday night. Barkley’s candor on air as an analyst is a key reason why the studio show has become so influential and beloved among basketball fans and around the league.
But these are tense times for the program and those who work on it. Warner Bros. Discovery has not secured the rights to continue broadcasting NBA Games on TNT beyond next season. Without them, the long-term future of “Inside the NBA” is uncertain. So when Barkley, who had already rebuffed several attempts by security and public relations officials to prevent him from doing an interview, ushered me into an elevator full of his co-workers, not everyone was happy.
Kenny Smith, Barkley’s on-screen foil, expressed his irritation. But Barkley, as he has done throughout his decades in the public eye, made it clear that he would not be muzzled.
“Hey, man, I can talk to whoever I want,” Barkley told Smith, using an expletive. Others in the elevator shifted uncomfortably.
“You should do that out there,” Smith said, suggesting the interview take place outside the elevator.
Barkley turned to me: “Don’t worry about him.”
“She should clear it up through Turner,” Smith said. “She should do it the right way.”
Why was it so important for him to speak out, I asked Barkley, even if others around him didn’t want him to? He nodded at the impact uncertainty has on staff members working on the program. And not just the best-known on-air personalities: Barkley, Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and host Ernie Johnson.
“These are people’s lives,” Barkley said. “It’s not my life. Not Ernie’s life. Not Kenny’s life. Not Shaq’s life. But all the people who work here. We probably have 100 people working on the program. So they are real people. I have seen their children born, graduate from high school and college.”
“Inside the NBA” began when Turner Sports acquired the rights to broadcast NBA games in 1989. Johnson became the host in 1990 and Smith joined him in 1998. Barkley’s arrival and his unfiltered opinions in 2000 They firmly established the show as Appointment Television for basketball fans and an integral piece of the league’s culture. O’Neal joined the broadcast in 2011, and the group’s irreverent and astute basketball analysis, free of concerns about access or egos, has endeared it to viewers and critics. Now this mainstay of NBA coverage may be in danger, at least in its current format.
Warner Bros. Discovery did not reach a deal with the NBA during its exclusive negotiating window, prompting reports that it could lose the rights. David Zaslav, Warner’s chief executive, has said the company had the right to match any offer. When asked by TMZ on Thursday about the possibility of losing the show, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said: “We’re still talking. Who knows how it will turn out?”
The feeling of nervousness surrounding the negotiations contrasts starkly with the freestyle that has made “Inside the NBA” so popular.
Early in his tenure, Barkley colorfully declared that he would kiss Smith’s ass if the Houston Rockets‘ Yao Ming, then a relatively unproven 7-foot-6 center from China, scored 19 points in a given game. On another show, to collect the bet, Smith brought out a donkey for Barkley to kiss.
In 2018, Rockets players, including former Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, attempted to approach the Clippers locker room after a tense game. Outside reporter Ros Gold-Onwude said there was a police presence at the stadium to ensure the incident did not escalate. At the end of his report, O’Neal and Barkley were laughing uncontrollably, while Smith and Johnson tried to calm them down.
When he caught his breath, O’Neal imitated an imaginary 911 call: “Hello, police? Chris Paul is trying to beat me up.
Barkley responded, referring to a Clippers player: “Hey, this is Blake Griffin. Chris Paul is trying to get into the locker room! Come down here and save me!
The people working behind the scenes create bold graphics that often set the jokes on the air. Other times, the writers’ and producers’ ideas became indelible parts of the show. The show is known throughout the league as a place where employees feel welcomed in a family atmosphere.
“Inside the NBA” also addresses serious topics. In 2014, for example, after a white police officer who killed a black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, was not charged, the show began with a frank discussion of the situation.
And his influence among the players is unquestionable. Dereck Lively, a rookie for the Dallas Mavericks, appeared in a segment this month because an Oklahoma City Thunder player had chased him around the court as if they were playing tag. Lively’s friends enthusiastically sent her the video.
“There aren’t many people who can be there in those moments,” he said.
A few days later, Lively’s teammate Daniel Gafford was a post-game guest on the show’s arena set. During the game he had roared and hit his chest. On the set of “Inside the NBA,” he smiled sheepishly, even when Barkley called him by the wrong name.
“I’m excited to be here with all of you,” Gafford said. “It’s a great honor”.
Barkley told Gafford that there were times during his illustrious NBA career when he would cry, wondering if he was really any good at basketball. He asked Gafford if he had ever asked that about himself. Gafford said yes.
If the show disappears, Lively said, the league will lose “one of the happy places but also one of the places where people are not afraid to say what they want to say.”
“Those four guys, everyone has a lot of respect for those four guys,” Lively continued. “Whenever they speak, people listen.”
He added: “Losing that connection will hurt the league.”
When the Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets to reach the conference finals, Barkley told Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards that he hadn’t been to Minnesota in decades. Edwards responded, “Bring your ass,” creating a civic rallying cry for everyone from the local symphony orchestra to the governor of Minnesota.
“Inside the NBA” is normally filmed in a studio in Atlanta, but the show took place at the Target Center for the Western Conference finals between the Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks.
As fans poured into the Minneapolis stadium on Friday night, many found the set and waited for the stars to arrive. They wore jerseys and signs just like they would on an NBA team.
Karen Steele, 51, held up a hand-drawn sign that read, “We love Charles.” Her sister had bet her $50 that she couldn’t take a photo with Barkley, so she was there to try.
“He’s real,” Steele said. When Edwards made his comment, “some people may not have responded well,” she added. “He responded great. Our city loves him. He was an incredible basketball player. “It’s fun to watch.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Barkley has been the most vocal about the future of the show.
This month, barkley said He had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave if TNT lost the NBA
In a more recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Barkley slammed Warner Bros. Discovery management. He never mentioned Zaslav, the CEO, by name, but called the company’s leaders “clowns.”
“When we merged, that was the first thing our boss said: ‘We don’t need the NBA,’” Barkley said. “Well, he doesn’t need it. But the rest of the people, me, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie and the people who work there, we need it.”
The other stars of “Inside the NBA” have been quieter.
Before Friday’s pregame show, O’Neal sat courtside and chatted with passersby. When asked for an interview, he smiled and said, “We haven’t been allowed to talk since Chuck’s outburst.” He might have been joking, although a TNT public relations official later said the cast had not been asked not to speak.
When I was approached for an interview, Johnson directed me to the public relations team. TNT declined to arrange interviews with its talent for this article. After the game, Johnson interrupted my interview with Barkley as I was exiting the elevator to punish me for approaching him without company permission.
Because TNT does not broadcast the NBA Finals, the show’s season will end after the Western Conference Finals. Game 4 is Tuesday night, with Dallas holding a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. “Inside the NBA” will return next season, but it remains to be seen if it will be the last.
“I love my job,” Barkley said. “I’ve worked with these people for 24 years and we have a lot of fun together. And we hope it continues. We have hope, but we have no control over it.”
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