For anyone still doubting Inside the NBA’s future on ESPN, Ernie Johnson says the show will continue and be the same.
Johnson joined The Dan Patrick Show Wednesday morning to discuss the Inside the NBA crew’s (minus Shaquille O’Neal) annual transition to NCAA Tournament coverage every March. Near the end of the interview, Patrick asked Johnson about his future beyond this season.
“Are you following everybody?” Patrick asked, seemingly looking to confirm Johnson will join Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaq in bringing Inside the NBA to ESPN next season.
“Yeah, this is the plan,” Johnson said. “We’re gonna continue to do the show. But it’s just not gonna air on TNT because the NBA on TNT is no more after these playoffs. But we’ll still do the show in Atlanta; still do it with the same production crew; it will just air on ABC/ESPN on certain nights.”
Patrick noted that the show’s future looked a little “shaky” for a while and questioned whether Johnson would have remained on Inside the NBA if it had been moved out of Atlanta.
“No,” Johnson said without hesitation. “That’s home. Look, I can kinda see the finish line…I can’t wait for next year, can’t wait to stay with the guys, and then we’ll just see for the years after that what comes up and what I feel like doing.”
The show’s future appeared more than just “shaky” at various times throughout the last year, particularly every time Barkley torched his TNT Sports bosses for botching the network’s relationship with the NBA. There were many questions about whether the show could be revived on another network or platform. And every time the thought of moving was broached, it was always followed by the caveat that Johnson had no interest in leaving Atlanta.
Thankfully, a licensing agreement with ESPN stepped in and seemingly saved the show. ESPN and TNT Sports have both insisted the only changes will be the night it airs and the channel it airs on. Still, some fans have remained skeptical about ESPN’s ability to stay hands-off, with Barkley often seeming like one of those skeptics. But, in Ernie Johnson, we trust.