The final buzzer of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals didn’t just signal the Indiana Pacers punching their ticket to the NBA Finals over the New York Knicks, for longtime basketball fans, it echoed with a much more somber note – the near-end of an era for NBA on TNT. After 35 years, TNT’s run of televising NBA games in the U.S. is coming to a close, with rights shifting to other networks next season.

Starting next season (2025-26), the league’s broadcast rights are shifting, with games moving over to ESPN/ABC, NBC Sports, and Amazon Prime Video. It’s a massive change, the kind of shake-up in sports media that really makes you pause and reflect on what’s been.

And as the reality of this seismic shift began to sink in, especially with TNT’s game coverage winding down, one of the most respected voices in NBA reporting, David Aldridge, now a senior columnist for The Athletic, shared an incredibly raw and emotional message. His words revealed just how much his time at Turner Sports, the home of NBA on TNT, truly meant to him, both personally and professionally.

Aldridge tweeted: “In the spring of 2004, ESPN let me go. It was unmooring. It was a shock. I had a wife and baby to take care of.” Just imagine that. You’re a top reporter, and then, bam, your world gets turned upside down. But then came the lifeline. Aldridge continued, “That fall, Jeff Behnke and Jeff Ogan hired me to work at Turner Sports. It was the best time I ever had in my life.” You can almost hear the sheer gratitude in those words.

His message culminated in a heartfelt farewell to the NBA on TNT family, a group that, while the “Inside the NBA” studio show itself is moving to ESPN via a licensing deal, will never be the same without the full slate of games that made it legendary. “Godspeed, @NBAonTNT,” Aldridge wrote. “You saved me. I love you all.”

That raw emotion from Aldridge? It really hits home because “NBA on TNT” wasn’t just another channel showing games, for so many of us, it was a Thursday night ritual. And the absolute heart of that tradition, the show that kept us all glued to our seats long after the games ended, was the one and only “Inside the NBA.”

Now, with TNT’s game coverage ending, a lot of fans were probably panicking, “But what about Inside the NBA?! What about Ernie, Chuck, Kenny, and Shaq?!” But here’s the amazing news: the show isn’t ending! ESPN smartly licensed “Inside the NBA,” so it will still be produced with the same beloved crew, just airing on ESPN/ABC. As Shaq himself declared, “The show is still here, baby. You can never kill the four horsemen,” and Ernie Johnson confirmed, “We’re gonna continue to do the show…it will just air on ABC/ESPN on certain nights.” The magic, thankfully, lives on!

Rick Carlisle steals the show with TNT Praise

The outpouring of love and respect for NBA on TNT didn’t just stop with David Aldridge. In a truly classy and unexpected moment right after the Indiana Pacers clinched the Eastern Conference Finals, their head coach, Rick Carlisle, made sure to give TNT, and especially the legendary Ernie Johnson, their flowers.

Picture this: the Pacers have just won, they’re heading to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000, and the on-court trophy presentation is happening. Ernie Johnson is leading the interviews. He wraps up his chat with Coach Carlisle and wishes him luck in the Finals. Standard stuff, right? Wrong. That’s when Carlisle, in a move that had everyone talking, basically “stole” Ernie’s microphone. He wasn’t done. He had something important to say.

With the mic in hand, and the basketball world watching, Carlisle didn’t just talk about his team’s victory. He took a moment to acknowledge the end of an era for the network that had broadcast so many iconic NBA moments. “Congratulations to TNT on a fabulous, unbelievable run that’s coming to an end,” Carlisle said, his voice full of genuine respect. “We’re all very sad about that. But you’re a man of great class. Congrats.” He directed that last part right at Ernie, who, by all accounts, looked genuinely touched by the gesture.

It was a bittersweet moment, as many fans described it online. Here’s a coach, fresh off a massive series win, taking the time to publicly thank and congratulate a broadcast network and its iconic host for their decades of incredible work.

In fact, the emotion of TNT’s run coming to an end was palpable, and it even got to the biggest man on set. During one of Ernie Johnson’s heartfelt speeches reflecting on their incredible 30-year journey together on TNT, Shaquille O’Neal – the Diesel, the four-time champ, usually the one cracking jokes and delivering “Shaqtin’ a Fool” moments – was visibly moved. Cameras caught him actually wiping away tears.

For a guy as larger-than-life and often outwardly jovial as Shaq, seeing that raw emotion, that vulnerability, really underscored how much this show, this “TV family” as Ernie called it, truly meant to him and all of them and all of us.