This… was not how we imagined it going. Fans thought they had saved Inside the NBA from going off the air when a relentless online campaign resulted in the show getting licensed to ESPN. The show was going to retain the core Fab 4 of TNT along with the crew and stay in Atlanta instead of going to New York. So we thought that would keep the essence of the show – unscripted madness with a bit of hoops. Shaquille O’Neal even warned ESPN ahead of time that he and Charles Barkley weren’t going to change their personalities for them. Now ESPN isn’t changing, but limiting how much of the Inside Guys we get. Naturally, fans had something to say about that.

The (tentative) advance schedule for ESPN’s NBA broadcasts arrived with a lot of anxiety. It’s lineup it’s not completely decided unlike Amazon and NBC and they have to work around gaining an entire powerhouse from TNT to its banner. This schedule though doesn’t give much hope for how things are going to go or how Charles Barkley envisioned it.

The TNT-produced Inside the NBA will air for 30 minutes after the first ESPN doubleheader on October 22. It will run from 12:05 to 12:35 AM EST before SportsCenter.

Kenny “The Jet” Smith loves to joke he’s not working a minute beyond 12 am and Barkley would whine when games went into overtime. Even Shaq, a bonafide night owl, got grouchey if he was made to work longer. Besides, Chuck made it very clear between announcing retirement and renewing his ties with TNT that he’d not work more hours than he already does.

30 minutes is significantly less work for the quartet who spent almost three decades occupying 40 to 50 minutes of a Thursday night. In nearly an hour, they packed segments like ‘Shaqtin a Fool,’ ‘EJ’s Neat-O-Stat,’ Halftime analysis by racing Kenny to the board and Chuck’s Guarantees falling apart among some other improvised closers. Lesser time means something’s got to go.

If someone thought the segments could be rotated weekly, eh, think again. Contrary to the assumption Inside the NBA will air every week of the regular season, ESPN’s new schedule puts the second episode of Shaq and Chuck two months later on Christmas Day. At least that’s what it appears to be as this advance schedule only lists two episodes of Inside the NBA.

Maybe it’s subject to change. Maybe there’s some flexibility to be added later. What may not be is fans’ good will.

Fans mourn Inside the NBA’s end once more

The possibility of Inside the NBA only having two official broadcasts in 2025-26 leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Charles Barkley only had one goal by putting off retirement – he didn’t want Turner employees to lose their jobs. While it looked like the TNT crew’s jobs were saved as long as the show continued to film in Atlanta, that’s not looking possible with just two confirmed episodes this year.

Barkley blamed Warner Bros. Discovery’s executives, led by CEO David Zaslav for the mismanagement of Inside the NBA. Now fans do too, directly declaring, “Only 30 mins. Airing once before Christmas. I truly hate ESPN and David Zaslav.”

ESPN’s got its own problems with a revolving door of on-air personalities. Right now only Stephen A. Smith’s airtime is set in stone with a $100 million contract. Among the many exits where Shannon Sharpe who was fired after a series of controversies. Doris Burke isn’t a done deal either. With the Inside the NBA schedule, fans are accusing ESPN of, “Intentional sabotage,” and, “They bought the rights to the show just to kill it off…” assuming ESPN was afraid of Chuck and Shaq overshadowing their lineup.

Shaquille O’Neal previously warned ESPN, “Even though the name changes, the engine is still the same… And to that new network we’re coming to, we’re not coming to [expletive] around. … We’re taking over, OK? I love you guys and I appreciate you guys.” He was afraid that the Disney-owned network would tame them and that’s exactly what’s happening.

With a much shorter airtime, all the unfiltered segments with corny graphics won’t fit. And fans are worried about ESPN’s commercial color taking away Inside‘s charm. “Adding in all the commercial time, we will be lucky to get 20 minutes of actual show,” and “can’t forget the fact somehow they will force Stephen A on inside the NBA
because are you allowed to have basketball discussions without stephen a on espn?” are only some of the fears fans see coming true.

Most predict this going one way – “75% of the show will be taken up by Chuck complaining about the half hour time slot.” Others are resigned to the fact that the Inside the NBA as they knew it ended in May.