Shaquille O'Neal (left), Ernie Johnson (lc), Chris Weber (rc), and Charles Barkley (right) on the TNT set. Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

NBC's pursuit of NBA media rights threatens TNT's award-winning coverage

By Eric Smithling | Last updated 4/30/24

NBC's interest in acquiring NBA media rights could put TNT's award-winning "Inside The NBA" in limbo.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the NBA's former television home from 1990-2002 is expected to make an offer worth $2.5 billion to regain rights.

Disney owns ABC and ESPN and is expected to continue its partnership with the league. Per The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, Amazon has also emerged as a third partner, with the NBA eyeing a deeper expansion into digital media.

NBC is preparing a bid for NBA rights worth $2.5 billion annually in an attempt to squeeze out Turner Sports, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Negotiations are ongoing with Amazon and Disney/ESPN also in the mix.

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The league's current media rights deal expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.

While the prospect of getting NBC's NBA theme back is enticing, the threat of potentially losing the "Inside The NBA" crew is worse.

Of course, if TNT loses coverage, all three media partners — yes, even ESPN — should give "Inside The NBA" hosts and production staff whatever they want to bring them on board.

Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal are among the nightly stars of the NBA playoffs, and their coverage is (rightfully) widely viewed as a superior product to what ESPN offers.

TNT is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, whose chief executive officer, David Zaslav, is already responsible for killing two movies that had completed production, rebranding HBO Max into Max and losing $3 billion. So, he's clearly not full of bright ideas.

However, potentially being outbid by NBC and ending one of the most decorated studio sports shows of all time would be up there with the worst things Zaslav has done.

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