'DO IT THE RIGHT WAY'
Inside The NBA in chaos with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith ‘in bust-up backstage and Ernie Johnson gets into argument’
NBC is set to seal a $2.6bn rights package to snatch the NBA from TNT Sports
TENSIONS are reportedly rising behind the scenes at TNT's Inside the NBA.
The long-running basketball show looks set to end following the 2024-25 season.
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TNT Sports is set to lose the rights to show the NBA to NBC, per the Sports Business Journal.
The show's stars Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, and Ernie Johnson have all referenced the uncertainty in recent weeks.
Host Johnson and former NBA star Smith are reportedly unhappy at a recent interview given by Barkley addressing the show's future, per the NY Post.
Barkley spoke to the New York Times earlier this week from Minneapolis, where the team is covering the Western Conference Finals.
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Smith "voiced his irritation" after Times reporter Tania Ganguli was "ushered into an elevator" by Barkley, according to the report.
Ganguli claims Barkley "batted away several attempts by security and public relations officials to prevent him from doing an interview."
"She should clear it through [TNT]," Smith is reported to have told Barkley, "She should do it the right way."
"Hey, man, I can talk to who I want to," Barkley responded.
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"It’s people’s lives," Barkley continued when pressed on why he wanted to do an interview.
"Not my life. Not Ernie’s life. Not Kenny’s life. Not Shaq’s life.
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"But all the people who work here. We probably have 100 people who do work on the show.
"So they’re, like, real people. I’ve seen their kids born, graduate high school, graduate college."
The report goes on to claim host Johnson "interrupted the interview" as he left the elevator.
Johnson "castigated" Ganguli for "approaching him without permission from the company."
TNT had declined to arrange interviews for the article, per the report.
Inside the NBA's future?
Inside the NBA's run on TNT Sports is in major doubt due to the NBA's broadcasting deals.
The Emmy-winning sports show is a fan favorite thanks to the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.
But TNT's broadcast deal with the NBA is up after next season and NBC looks set to take those rights in a $2.6bn deal.
If TNT loses its NBA package, it raises serious questions over the popular Inside the NBA.
One solution could be to recreate the show on another network, which snaps up the NBA rights.
Inside the NBA has run since 1989, with Johnson taking the reigns as host in 1990.
Barkley has appeared since 2000 and has spoken out against the show potentially ending in recent weeks.
"I'm gonna be on LinkedIn tomorrow afternoon," he lamented during a recent broadcast.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT, has been left out of final negotiations for NBA rights from 2025 onwards.
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NBC's package is reportedly coming in around $2.6 billion, up from an initial $2.5 billion, per the SBJ report.
Sources told the outlet the NBA will take NBC's final offer to Warner Bros. to see if they can match its total value.