So here we are—staring at the end of a 35-year ride. TNT’s journey with the NBA is nearing its final stop, and on Tuesday night, it got real emotional. The network, which has delivered the league’s drama, dunks, and debates since 1989, is set to lose its live rights after this season wraps up in June. That moment, when a new champ is crowned, won’t just close the playoffs—it’ll close a chapter of NBA history.

But what’s really hitting hard is the shift happening inside the TNT family. Sure, Inside the NBA will keep going over on ESPN and ABC next season, but the TNT name won’t be in the game anymore. While this is a reality, the heart of TNT’s NBA presence, the beloved “Inside the NBA” crew, has found a new home, ensuring their unique brand of entertainment, renowned for its insightful analysis, hilarious banter, and genuine camaraderie among Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal, will continue to shape basketball conversations. And on Thursday night, as the crew wrapped up their last regular-season show, Ernie Johnson couldn’t hold back. He reflected on the pressure TNT has faced competing against networks with much deeper pockets.

Still, Johnson couldn’t help but go back to where it all began. “I still remember in July of 1989, walking through that front door here at the mansion… This is where it all started.” Back then, there was no sprawling studio lot or award-winning segments—just a vision.

Eventually, though, reality hit. “You haven’t joined a sports network, you’ve joined an entertainment network that does sports,” people warned him. That meant one thing: constant hustle. “Every night we’ve had to prove ourselves. Every night.” And they weren’t just proving it to fans—but to the giants. “Because we were working with the heavyweights in sports. We’d work with the folks at ABC and NBC and CBS and it was like, well, prove it.” 

And despite those towering numbers—ABC’s $1.95B, NBC’s $32.5B, CBS’s $21.86B—Johnson knows they did. “And we did, and we do every night. That will never change.” However, while the end of an era loomed over TNT losing its NBA rights, Ernie Johnson found something to smile about.

Ernie Johnson is happy to continue Inside the NBA

Inside the NBA, the heart and soul of TNT’s hoops coverage isn’t going anywhere. For a moment, even Charles Barkley joked about needing a LinkedIn update. With Amazon and others circling, things looked uncertain. But in a twist no one saw coming, ESPN stepped in and struck a deal to keep the show alive. Sure, it was their last All-Star Game on TNT—but the crew? Still rolling together.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. With the NBA’s jaw-dropping $76 billion media deal kicking in next season, Inside the NBA is stepping into new territory. For the first time, the crew might get a shot at covering the NBA Finals. As ESPN and ABC have long held the rights to broadcast the NBA Finals, the “Inside the NBA” crew, now joining their programming, will likely be integrated into the Finals coverage, offering their pre-game, halftime, and post-game analysis on the league’s biggest stage. That’s right—big lights, bigger stakes. And with ESPN at the wheel, Johnson knows what’s coming next could be even more special.

“When you tune into some of these nights on ABC or ESPN, the pregame show is going to be us. We’re going to still be doing it in Atlanta, we’re just not going to be saying the NBA on TNT… To stay together with those guys (and) to stay together with our production crew, that’s really important,” he said on The Draymond Green Show.

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More than anything, he’s glad they’re sticking together. However, they haven’t finalized every detail. Johnson hinted that most of the crew will return, but we’ll have to wait for the final word. Either way, one thing’s clear—Inside the NBA isn’t done making magic.