Basketball fans are not happy about this coming season being the final one for “NBA on TNT.” That became official Wednesday night when the Association announced that it has accepted the $1.8 billion offer from Amazon Prime to be a broadcasting partner starting in 2025-26.
Turner Sports had announced earlier in the week that it matched Amazon’s offer. Alas, the NBA opted to go in another direction.
“NBA on TNT” hosts Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley have been wildly popular over the years. For many, this quartet puts the ESPN pre-game and post-game show to shame.
So, what’s going to happen with the four? Barkley announced recently that he’s simply planning on retiring after the 2024-25 season. He previously stated he had absolutely no interest in joining ESPN.
“They’re not gonna work me like a dog,” Barkley said back in May. “ESPN Radio, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes. I mean, HELL NO! As much as I love ESPN, I just turned 61. The notion that I’m going to be working like a dog into my mid-60s, that’s definitely not going to happen.”
Could Barkley potentially have a change of heart if ESPN came with an offer for him and his co-hosts? It’s possible. We also have more information on this.
Related: Charles Barkley Goes On Rant, Calls Bosses At TNT ‘Clowns’ and ‘Fools’
ESPN, Amazon Prime Could Bring Over Entire NBA on TNT Crew
“Prime could build its NBA studio coverage around the Inside the NBA team,” Front Office Sports reported on Thursday. “With a market capitalization of $2 trillion, and more than 200 million subscribers worldwide, Prime could afford the cast en masse. Meanwhile, ESPN has been lusting after Barkley for years, with its own NBA Countdown studio show struggling through a revolving door of cast changes.”
It would absolutely take a bag for ESPN or Amazon to bring in the entire “NBA on TNT” crew. In fact, Barkley is looking at north of $20 million annually should he have a change of heart relating to retirement.
It’s also an open question whether Johnson would leave Turner Sports. He’s been with the network since the late 1980s and might not be inclined to leave.
For what it’s worth, Amazon is not hiding its interest in Barkley and the crew.
“Inside the NBA, in our opinion, is the gold standard for studio programming. I’m a huge fan. We’re all big fans. It is so entertaining. Those guys are hilarious. The chemistry is off the charts,” Prime Video global head of sports Jay Marine told Front Office Sports. “In fact, it’s what we really held up as the standard and our inspiration when we were designing our TNF pregame show. We’ll have to see how all this plays out. We just signed the deal. They’ll have no shortage of options depending on what they want to do.”
Yes, this could get very interesting.
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