Charles Barkley has been asked this question thousands of times now.
The Hall of Famer still doesn’t have the slightest idea what the new iteration of Inside the NBA will look like now that it’s being licensed to ESPN, or at least he says he doesn’t. This isn’t anything new, given that just last month, Barkley shared his concerns about how the network’s time constraints will ultimately impact the show.
He hasn’t exactly been shy about sharing those concerns. He never has. And while he’s changed his tune about working with the Worldwide Leader he’s needled time and time again, Barkley still feels uncomfortable with some of the unanswered questions.
“We’re all going to be doing the show in Atlanta, but we’re all kind of like, how’s this thing going to play out?” Barkley said during a recent appearance on The Bettor Angle on Audacy’s BetMGM Network. “I’ve been asked that question a thousand times, and I don’t have any idea. We think our show is going to be similar or the same, but going to another network, we don’t even know how that’s going to work. Because you have to factor in, obviously, I’m a big fan of ESPN. I think they’re the greatest sports network ever. But you know, when they do a game, they have to rush off the network to go to SportsCenter.
“And we’re trying to figure out — our best stuff is 40 minutes after the game, when we can just have some fun. But are they going to say, ‘Hey, you guys got five minutes or 15 minutes, then we gotta go to SportsCenter.’ So, we don’t know, but, hey, the deal’s been made. When October 22 gets here, we’re going to be ready to go. But we have no parameters of what the show’s going to be, so that’s a little disconcerting to be flat-out honest with you. But, hey, it is what it is.”
Barkley’s concern isn’t unfounded. Sports Media Watch reported that the ESPN debut of Inside the NBA will only get a 30-minute window following the season-opening doubleheader on Oct. 22, before being cut off for SportsCenter. For fans used to an hour-plus of Barkley, Shaq, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith riffing into the night, that’s a tough adjustment.
The truncated format has fans worried, though ESPN’s advance schedule remains subject to change. Outside of opening week, Inside the NBA isn’t scheduled to appear on ESPN again until Christmas Day, raising questions about how frequently the show will actually air on its new network.
But there is a saving grace here, according to Barkley.
“I think the main thing is we were able to keep a couple hundred people’s jobs,” he continued. “Obviously, we thought it was over. I think me, Ernie, Kenny, and Shaq were fine. I was negotiating with NBC and Amazon, so I was going to find a home somewhere, because we all thought we were going to be free agents. Then, this thing with ESPN came out of nowhere, because I already had several meetings with NBC and already had several meetings with Amazon. I was gonna go one of those directions, because we thought it was over.
“And then like I say, give TNT their props and ESPN their props, that we were able to salvage the show… The main thing [is] we were able to keep everybody employed, which was the No. 1 priority for me, Ernie, Kenny, and Shaq. And I think we got the best case scenario, to be honest with you, but we’re still going to have to figure out how this thing is going to work over at ESPN.”
Can Inside the NBA survive being chopped into ESPN-sized pieces? The show’s appeal has always been that it’s unpredictable, and conversations go wherever they go. Whether that works in ESPN’s buttoned-up world — with 30-minute time slots — is what everyone’s waiting to find out.