As the Indiana Pacers punched their ticket to the 2025 NBA Finals by eliminating the New York Knicks in Game 6, another chapter in basketball history came to a close, one that extended beyond the hardwood.
TNT's legendary show Inside the NBA officially signed off for the final time, marking the end of a 36-year era that changed how basketball was consumed, analyzed, and celebrated. Although the show and its hosts will continue on ESPN next season, the Turner Sports legacy behind Inside the NBA has now ended.
What followed the Pacers’ victory was not just a postgame show, it was a sendoff filled with emotion, gratitude, and nostalgia, as the iconic quartet of Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson delivered their heartfelt farewells.
Shaquille O’Neal, always the enforcer with a playful edge, reflected on how much the show meant to him.
"I'm the youngest here. It's been a great run. It's been an honor."
"Chuck, I love you like the older brother that I never had. And if you say something, I will whoop your a** one last time on this show right now. Ernie, you came to my house in 1989, 1991. Big honor. It's an honor for me to be sitting up here with you."
"Kenny, the way y'all embarrassed us in 94–95, you and Hakeem, you taught me what it was to be a champion. And we're a family. I'm glad we're sticking together. And like I said, even though the name changes, the engine is still the same. And to the new network we're coming to, we're not coming to F around."
"And since it's the last show, I'm going to say it. We're not coming to f**k around. We're kicking a**. We're taking names. And we're taking over. Okay? I love you guys, and I appreciate you guys. But, hey, all right? Let me see that number one sign for the number one show ever on TV. And we come over to take over that next network, too."
Kenny Smith followed, offering perspective not just on the hosts, but the ecosystem that made the show thrive.
"Tough act to follow. But it's bittersweet, obviously, you know, not just because us four are moving. But, you know, it's been a history that has been set by all of the people that have laid the groundwork behind the scenes, before the scenes, the game crew, the tossback crew, Kevin Harlan, who rejuvenated the name 'The Jet.'"
"No one ever called me The Jet until I got back to TNT. You know, Craig Sager, who I shared an office with, who sat down with me one day and said, you know this could be a career for you if you take this seriously. First person that ever told me I was good at it."
"So I miss him, his family. And, you know, like I said, we're going to see each other, but the faces that you're going to miss, that you forget that they're every day of your life, this has just been a magnificent ride. And as Shaq said, we ain't coming to fuck around."
Charles Barkley, whose raw honesty became a cornerstone of the show’s appeal, took time to thank everyone behind the scenes and on-screen who gave him the opportunity to reinvent himself after his playing career.
"Listen, obviously, I got lucky and made one of the best decisions ever. I was obviously going to go to NBC and a friend of mine, Michael Jackson, says come to have dinner at Turner to make me look good. And these guys took me out to dinner."
"And after five hours, I had to call the great Dick Ebersol and say, hey man, I'm going to change my mind. I want to thank Dick Ebersol for making me think about doing television. But I want to thank Mark Lazarus, who hired me, David Levy, my old boss, and Tara August, my best friend. She's been there for me the whole time."
"I just want to thank every single person who's been at Turner with me the last 25 years. Some of these people have had kids. They come see us for their prom. They come back when they graduate college, and now they're bringing newborns in. So if you with people that long, they are your family."
"And I just want to thank everybody at Turner for the last 25 years. It's been an honor, and I'm grateful and thankful. And also to ESPN, it's going to be an honor and a privilege to work for you guys. You guys are the number one sports network in history, and I'm excited for it. You guys got some tremendous talents over there."
"I'm looking forward to co-working with those guys. But like I say, man, I just want to say thank you to the NBA, every coach I've had, every player I've played with, for giving me this magnificent life that I've had."
"I am so lucky and blessed. I'm lucky and blessed. And I want to thank TNT. And even though we'll never say TNT Sports again, I want to thank TNT for giving me a magnificent life. I love you."
Ernie Johnson, the glue of the show since 1989, brought it home with grace and perspective.
"I'll try to keep this brief. Several years ago, I wrote a book called Unscripted, and I asked people to embrace the unscripted, not fear the unscripted. If I had written the script, the NBA and TNT would be together forever. It's not going to happen."
"But while I was disappointed and I was sad, I was not bitter. We know how business works. Gratitude is the operative word for me. Grateful that, you know, since 1989, I've been with this company. No matter what you call the company, I'll always be Turner."
"And I'm grateful that I work with you guys. I'm grateful for all of the relationships we've built professionally and personally through the years. You just don't realize that until you see people here on the road and say, hey, this is probably going to be it, and you think back to all the good times you had."
"So I'm grateful for that and also grateful that we have members of our crew who are going to go work at NBC or work at Amazon, and you know how they got those jobs? Because their résumé says NBA on TNT. So thank you. We have been honored to do this."
"And we look forward. Look, the four of us, as you've already heard, the four of us are going to be together. Our production crew is going to be together. It's going to be that same bunch. We're still going to be shooting that show in Atlanta. It's just going to air somewhere else."
"And so the craziness that you've seen, the nonsense and the foolishness and the top-notch basketball analysis, all of that stuff is going to be on ESPN or ABC next year, not on TNT. For that, we're sad. But I'm proud to say for the last time, thanks for watching us. It's the NBA on TNT."
While Inside the NBA will find a new home on ESPN and ABC, this moment marked the end of an era.
For nearly four decades, the show was more than just basketball coverage, it was a cultural institution, a place where the game was broken down with brilliance and humor, where legends became family, and where fans gathered not just for analysis but for connection.
TNT’s sign-off may be final, but the spirit of Inside the NBA will carry on, louder, prouder, and maybe even bolder.
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