It’s the end of an era at TNT Sports. Inside the NBA will move to ESPN starting with the 2025-2026 season. How will the network change affect the Emmy-winning show?
ESPN’s Plans For Inside The NBA
Exclusive: 'Inside the NBA' will lead ESPN's NBA pregame and halftime programming, and there will be an extensive postgame show, sources tell FOS.
Sources tell @MMcCarthyREV that ESPN has no plans to change the show’s DNA.
Inside the 'Inside the NBA' transition to ESPN ⬇️
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) June 2, 2025
Inside the NBA is the most beloved studio show in professional sports. The show has been a TNT staple for over 30 years. The current lineup — including Ernie Johnson, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, and Charles Barkley — has been the show’s most successful lineup.
Saturday night marked the final episode of the studio show on TNT, as Turner will no longer broadcast the NBA.
ESPN, who re-upped their media rights deal with the NBA, cut a deal with TNT Sports to license Inside the NBA on ESPN and ABC starting in 2025-2026. The cast is expected to stay together.
Starting next season, Inside the NBA will lead ESPN’s pregame and halftime programming. The show will air on ABC and ESPN during the league’s biggest games, including opening week, Christmas Day, all ABC games after Jan. 1, and the NBA Playoffs.
Many fans and media members, including Bill Simmons and Bomani Jones, believe ESPN might alter the show’s formula and make the product worse.
Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy reported that ESPN has no plans to change Inside the NBA and will take a “hands-off” approach to the show.
“As one source told me, ‘Some of the speculation’s just nuts. ESPN has wanted Barkley and this show for 20 years’,” McCarthy wrote. “Now that they’ve got it, why would they change it’?”
ESPN has employed a similar approach to Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee, two of the biggest personalities at the company.
Postgame Show Planned At ESPN
Will TNT’s 'Inside the NBA' hit the same on ESPN?
“If you’re not gonna do the Inside the NBA postgame show, you’re getting rid of the best part of it." pic.twitter.com/yqIygZDPGt
— The Right Time with Bomani Jones (@righttimebomani) June 2, 2025
Part of what makes Inside the NBA so special is the unfiltered commentary provided by the four hosts, especially during the postgame shows.
ESPN typically doesn’t do postgame shows for its broadcasts. The local news follows ABC games, while SportsCenter airs after ESPN’s games.
Per McCarthy, ESPN will air a postgame show for Inside the NBA. It will reportedly air as long as it does on TNT.
There are still details to be worked out about when and where the show will air.
