Overview
- Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley will return for Inside the NBA’s 2025-26 season on ESPN
- ESPN has locked the program into its biggest NBA event nights, including opening week, Christmas Day, playoff games and the Finals
- TNT will continue full editorial control and production out of its Atlanta studio despite losing its NBA broadcast rights
- Charles Barkley called an early pilot for the ESPN version “the stupidest” for missing game highlights and warned reduced airtime could undermine the format
- Bill Simmons has cautioned that ESPN’s standard commercial breaks must be restructured to preserve the show’s long-form discussions