The future of “Inside the NBA” was already a sore subject when Charles Barkley entered an elevator in Minneapolis after Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Friday night. Barkley’s on-air candor as an analyst is one of the main reasons the studio show has become so influential and beloved among basketball fans and across the league.
But these are tense times for the show and those who work on it. Warner Bros. Discovery has not obtained the rights to continue broadcasting NBA games on TNT beyond next season. Without it, 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 giving an interview, led me into an elevator filled with his colleagues, not everyone was happy.
Kenny Smith, Barkley’s on-screen foil, expressed his irritation. But Barkley, as he has throughout his decades in the public eye, has made it clear that he will not be muzzled.
“Hey, man, I can talk to whoever I want,” Barkley told Smith, using an expletive. Other people in the elevator shifted uncomfortably.
“You should do that over there,” Smith said, suggesting the interview take place outside the elevator.
Barkley turned to me, “Don’t worry about him.
“She should go through Turner,” Smith said. “She should do it the right way.”
Why was it so important for him to speak up, I asked Barkley, even if others around him didn’t want to? He acknowledged the impact of uncertainty on staff members who work on the show. And not just the well-known on-air personalities: Barkley, Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and host Ernie Johnson.
“It’s people’s lives,” Barkley said. “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 show. So these are real people. “I’ve seen their children born, graduate from high school, graduate from 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 in 1998. Barkley’s arrival and his opinions not Leaked in 2000 firmly established the show as go-to TV for basketball fans and an integral part of the league’s culture. O’Neal joined the show in 2011, and the group’s irreverent and astute analysis of basketball, free from any concerns about access or ego, endeared him to viewers and critics alike. Now, this pillar of NBA coverage could be under threat – at least in its current format.
Warner Bros. Discovery did not reach a deal with the NBA during their exclusive negotiating window, leading to reports that it could lose the rights. David Zaslav, Warner’s chief executive, told the company had the right to match any offer. Asked Thursday by TMZ about the possibility of losing the show, the head of the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, said: “We’re all still talking. Who knows how it will turn out?
The sense of nervousness surrounding the negotiations stands in stark contrast to the freewheeling style that made “Inside the NBA” so popular.
Early in his tenure, Barkley colorfully declared that he would kiss Smith’s back if Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, then a relatively unproven 7-foot-6 Chinese center, scored 19 points in a certain game . In another show, to recover the bet, Smith pulled 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. Journalist Ros Gold-Onwude said there was a police presence at the arena to ensure the incident did not escalate. At the end of his report, O’Neal and Barkley we were laughing uncontrollablywhile Smith and Johnson tried to calm them down.
As he caught his breath, O’Neal imitated an imaginary 911 call: “Hello, police?” “Chris Paul is trying to beat me.”
Barkley responded by referring to a Clippers player: “Hey, it’s Blake Griffin. Chris Paul tries to enter the locker room! Come down here and save me!
People working behind the scenes create cheeky graphics that often punctuate on-air jokes. Other times, the ideas of the writers and producers have become indelible elements of the series. The show is known around the league as a place where employees feel enveloped in a family atmosphere.
“Inside the NBA” also addresses serious issues. In 2014, for example, after a white police officer who killed a black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, was not charged, the show opened with a frank discussion about the situation.
And his influence among players is undeniable. Derek Lively, a Dallas Mavericks rookie, appeared in a segment this month because an Oklahoma City Thunder player chased him around the court like they were playing a game of tag. Lively’s friends excitedly sent her the video.
“There aren’t many people who get to experience those moments,” he said.
A few days later, Lively’s teammate Daniel Gafford was a post-match guest on the show’s arena set. During the match, he roared and hit his chest. On the set of “Inside the NBA,” he smiled shyly, even when Barkley called him a bad 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 cried, wondering if he was actually any good at basketball. He asked Gafford if he had ever asked that question about him. Gafford said yes.
If the show disappears, Lively said, the league will lose “one of the lightest places but also one of the places where people aren’t afraid to say what they want to say.”
“All these four guys, everyone has a lot of respect for these four guys,” Lively continued. “Every time they speak, people listen. »
He added: “Losing that connection, it’s going to hurt the league. »
When the Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets to advance to the conference finals, Barkley told Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards that he had not been to Minnesota in decades. Edwards responded, “Get your ass on,” creating a civic rallying cry for everyone from the local symphony to the governor of Minnesota.
“Inside the NBA” is usually filmed in an Atlanta studio, but the show was on location at Target Center for the Western Conference finals between the Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks.
As fans filed into the Minneapolis arena Friday night, many found the setting and waited for the stars to arrive. They held jerseys and signs like they would an NBA team.
Karen Steele, 51, held up a hand-drawn sign that read: “We love Charles.” Her sister 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 the comment, “some people may not have reacted well,” she added. “I answered very well. Our city loves it. He was an incredible basketball player. “He’s fun to watch.”
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Barkley has been the most vocal about the show’s future.
This month, Barkley said he had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave if TNT lost the NBA
During a more recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Barkley lambasted Warner Bros. management. Discovery. He never mentioned the name of Zaslav, the general director, but called the company’s leaders “clowns.”
“When we merged, that’s 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 and Kenny and Shaq and Ernie and the people that work there, we need it.
Other “Inside the NBA” stars have been quieter.
Before Friday’s pregame show, O’Neal sat courtside and chatted with passersby. Asked for an interview, he smiled and said, “We haven’t been allowed to talk since Chuck’s outburst.” It may have been a joke, although a TNT public relations executive later said the actors were not asked not to speak.
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 the interview with Barkley as he was leaving the elevator to punish me for approaching him without the company’s permission.
Since TNT does not air 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 its last.
“I love my job,” Barkley said. “I’ve been working with these people for 24 years, we have a lot of fun together. And we hope this continues. “We hope, but we have no control over that.”
