The greatest studio show in the history of sports television is sticking around for a couple of years.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports announced on Monday that it has reached long-term contract extensions with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, the front-facing quartet of the iconic “Inside the NBA” studio show. The deals extend well beyond the NBA’s current rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, which expires after the 2024-25 season. Sources told The Athletic that Barkley is signed the longest of the quartet and years beyond the end of this current deal.
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“We’re all a big family. Ernie, Kenny and Shaquille are brothers to me, and I wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t for them and all the amazing people who work on our show,” Barkley said in a statement. “I’m not gonna lie, though, this is a life-altering deal and I’m blessed to be able to do live television for a living.”
“I always say there are ‘Got to, jobs’ and ‘Get to, jobs,’ and the four of us clearly have ‘Get to, jobs,’” said Johnson. “It’s been a journey of a lifetime to work on this show, with Charles, Kenny and Shaquille at the desk and alongside such an amazingly talented crew behind the scenes. I’m very blessed.”
It is hard to believe the show has been part of our viewing habits since 1989. (It debuted Nov. 4, 1989.) The best compliment I can give it after 30 years? It still feels current, even with the occasional flashes of get-off-my-lawn commentary.
Barkley, who turns 60 in February, repeatedly said that he won’t work past 60 and this contract takes him well beyond that. (Of course, he also said that about broadcasting past 50 too.) He has been with TNT’s NBA coverage since 2000. Johnson is in his 33rd year as the host of the show and one of the best to ever do it as a studio host. Smith is in his 24th year as studio analyst for ‘Inside the NBA’ while O’Neal joined the show in 2011.
The show’s history was chronicled in the four-part documentary series, The Inside Story, last year, which The Athletic wrote about.
The ‘Inside the NBA’ studio team debuts for the regular season Tuesday as part of TNT’s 2022 NBA Tip-Off coverage. The group will come on early, at 5 p.m. ET, as part of an expanded pregame from San Francisco.
(Photo: Steven Freeman / Getty)
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