It did not take ESPN long to plot out major changes to “Inside the NBA.”
ESPN is planning to air the popular television program “Inside the NBA” in a half-hour timeslot following the network’s first doubleheader of the 2025-26 NBA season on Oct. 22, Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported on Tuesday. Lewis notes that “Inside the NBA” typically ran for around 50 minutes in previous years and rarely dipped below the 40-minute mark.
Additionally, Lewis reports that “Inside the NBA” is not currently scheduled to run during ESPN’s second NBA doubleheader on Oct. 23 and, after Opening Week of the NBA season, is not even guaranteed to run again until Christmas Day. You can read Lewis’ full report on the situation here.
“Inside the NBA” has been on the air ever since 1989 and has featured the iconic four-man crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal since 2011. With 19 Sports Emmy Awards to its name, “Inside the NBA” has firmly established itself as one of the most popular and renowned sports shows on television.
After airing on TNT all throughout its illustrious run though, “Inside the NBA” is now getting a new home with TNT having just lost the broadcast rights to the NBA. While the program will still be produced by TNT and will still feature its classic four-man crew, it will be aired on ESPN moving forward.
Fans universally reacted with disappointment to this week’s news about ESPN’s plans for “Inside the NBA.” It is hard to blame them too given that the program is apparently set to lose roughly 40 percent of its runtime (meaning that some popular segments will inevitably have to be cut) and may be off the air for two whole months in between Opening Week and Christmas Day.
In an interview last month, the “Inside the NBA” co-host Barkley expressed some notable concerns about the show’s move from TNT to ESPN. Now it appears that at least some of those concerns are already coming to pass.