Nick Wright called on 'Inside the NBA' to be more positive after growing frustrated with pre-game comments before the Los Angeles Lakers' win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday
16:00 ET, 18 Mar 2026
Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley make up the 'Inside the NBA' crew
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Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley make up the 'Inside the NBA' crew(Image: Getty Images)
FOX Sports host Nick Wright questioned whether the beloved "Inside the NBA" crew truly “enjoys basketball” by comparing their energy to the World Baseball Classic and FOX NFL Sunday.
The 2024-25 NBA season proved to be the last on TNT, and fans were heartbroken when it appeared "Inside the NBA" — hosted by Ernie Johnson alongside Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley — was coming to an end. But ESPN acquired the rights to the show and kept the popular team together.
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Barkley still harbored suspicions that ESPN would mess up the show, but fans are just pleased to see the show still going. Wright is one such name, although he is concerned about how the show is evolving.
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Wright pointed to other sporting broadcasts, including the crew that broadcast the WBC — which Venezuela won on Tuesday — and the FOX NFL Sunday crew led by Terry Bradshaw. The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback headlines a crew that truly loves the NFL and gets excited by previewing each week’s slate of action.
Wright was discussing ‘Inside the NBA’ when he outlined his concerns with the negative nature of the likes of O’Neal and Barkley. The duo represents a sizable chunk of NBA alums who dismiss the current game when comparing to their older generations, which is gratifying for Wright.
“It might be the greatest sports show ever,” Wright began on his podcast, "What’s Wright?"
“With that said, I wish, this year, it felt like they enjoyed basketball more than it feels like. Before the Lakers-Nuggets game, Chuck saying ‘I hope the Lakers lose’ because he was pre-emptively angry at talk shows would take the Lakers seriously.
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Nick Wright called out the 'Inside the NBA' crew for the relentless criticism of the modern game
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Nick Wright called out the 'Inside the NBA' crew for the relentless criticism of the modern game(Image: X @WhatsWrightShow)
“Well, if they’re the three-seed in what people consider the tougher conference, are people allowed to take them a little seriously? And then after the game, when they win with Austin making that unbelievable play and then Luka hitting the game-winner, and Shaq saying, ‘Good teams don’t need that.’
“Like, what are we doing? That was one of the best games of the year. Everybody was playing. Nobody was sitting. Tied the game and then Luka hit a buzzer-beater.
“You watch the World Baseball Classic... and everyone involved in the broadcast is so excited and happy about it. And I just wish there was more of that from my favorite sports show ever.”
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When asked about Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic’s comments that former players like O’Neal and Barkley could be jealous regarding different eras, Wright added: “You do see it with the NBA more than any other sport, of the guys just talking about how their era was the better era.
“You don’t see Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long on FOX NFL pre-game being like ‘none of these guys could cut it in the 70s or 80s!’ It’s not what it is. It’s a celebration of the games.”