ESPN Will Ruin Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal’s Inside the NBA, Says Bill Simmons

Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson ended their exclusive run of covering NBA games.

ESPN Will Ruin Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal’s Inside the NBA, Says Bill Simmons

ESPN's methods could irritate Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal (Image via FirstSportz)

Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Inside the NBA crew signed off for the last time as an exclusive NBA broadcast after the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks Game 6 ended the Eastern Conference Finals. They will now prepare for next season, when ESPN will be broadcasting their show.

After the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks, the crew of Inside the NBA delivered their final takes as a TNT show. Their legendary three-decade-plus run ended, and the crew, along with their production staff, were visibly emotional.

Thankfully, they are not ending their run after ESPN brokered a deal to help the show and its staff continue to work through them. The show will be produced at TNT’s studios in Atlanta, but the show will be broadcast through ESPN, which means the latter will likely have a lot of control over the final product.

Up until now, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and host Ernie Johnson had a free rein over how they present the show. There are concerns of ESPN censoring much of their unfiltered takes, but veteran journalist Bill Simmons believes something else will ruin the show.

I think ESPN’s gonna f**k the show up… Unless they completely change how they do commercials, the show is gonna be different, people are gonna be pissed and Barkley and those guys are gonna be pissed. I think it’s going to go badly.

Bill Simmons said on The Ringer

Simmons’ logic was predicated on the fact that ESPN has paid billions to secure the NBA’s media-rights deal. If they do not show more commercials than before, it would be tough to recover the money they are paying. That will end up angering the quartet.

Bill Simmons suggests ways to avoid angering Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal

Bill Simmons believes that ESPN will have to be very careful when trying to mesh the way Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Inside the NBA crew work with their usual methods of extensive commercials in between takes. But the veteran journalist believes there is a way for it to work.

The only way it doesn’t go badly is if they do the commercials and they give them the lengthy segments that you need to have that show work. They are going to have to change how they do it.

Bill Simmons said

In essence, Simmons wants ESPN to schedule their commercials before and after any discussions. The last thing any of the quartet would appreciate is if they are interrupted. The 55-year-old Boston Celtics fan does not want the slightest of interruptions when the quartet is speaking on a topic.

The Massachusetts native hopes ESPN keeps their regular methods away while dealing with Barkley and his colleagues. They can walk away anytime knowing they have leverage over the network. Therefore, ESPN can avoid matters becoming public by toeing the line drawn by those four.

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to resume duties next season

ABC, through ESPN, will be broadcasting the NBA Finals set to start on June 5th at 8:30 pm ET. That means the likes of Stephen A. Smith, Malika Andrews, and the rotating crew of NBA Countdown will cover that series.

Inside the NBA crew to resume working next season with ESPN
Inside the NBA crew to resume working next season with ESPN (Image via Open Source/X)

It also means that Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson would head into their offseason with vacation plans in their pockets. They will have nearly five months off as they are not working officially on any projects.

The only possibility that Barkley and Johnson work is if they are part of a golf tournament. O’Neal might appear a few times on ESPN’s shows, particularly if he is promoting something, and Smith usually shuts down during this time.

The quartet will resume work after the NBA’s 2025-26 season opens on October 21st. They still do not know how they are going to work with ESPN or how they will be scheduled. As time goes by, they should get more clarity after which they can start resuming their duties with both TNT and ESPN.

Also Read: