1. The iconic Inside the NBA studio show was saved from possibly ending after this season when ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery struck a deal that will have WBD license the show to ESPN, beginning with the 2025–26 campaign.
On this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast, ESPN President Burke Magnus shared some details regarding the deal and addressed some speculation about the show’s future, which will see TNT remain in charge of all aspects of the show. The only difference is that Inside the NBA will air on ESPN/ABC.
“They’re going to produce it, and that’s exactly what we want,” Magnus said on the podcast.
“Of course we’re not going to change the show,” Magnus added. “Why would we take something so successful and so iconic, bring it over and then be like, ‘We know better, we’re gonna change it.’”
Magnus reiterated that the Inside the NBA we’ve always seen is the Inside the NBA we’re gonna get.
“We don’t want to change it. We don’t want to interject new talent into it. We don’t want to really do anything to it.”
So, when and where will we see Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal and Inside the NBA on ESPN/ABC?
“They’ll do the NBA Final,” said Magnus. “They’ll do a Conference Final, which is part of a new rights agreement. They’ll do pretty much the entire playoff run. And then they’ll do primarily during the regular season, the Saturday night and/or Sunday afternoon window on ABC.
“And then there’s a mechanism for some select games on ESPN. Opening Night, a tentpole regular-season game that happens to fall in November or December. For example, if we had had Boston-Cleveland Tuesday night, that would’ve been a perfect way to activate for that game for ESPN. And then Christmas Day and that sort of thing.”
With ESPN airing NBA games during the week, this means the network’s current studio show, NBA Countdown, will remain a fixture on the network.
“Yeah, that stays,” Magnus said about Countdown.
“NBA Countdown will be the studio show around all the other windows. A ton of opportunities for that show to continue and it will.”
Was bringing Inside the NBA to ESPN just a straight business decision or did good public relations play a part in ESPN saving the show?
“We’re fans, too,” Magnus said. “At the end of the day, I’m a big fan of that show. We didn’t want to see it end either, as fans. The opportunity to bolster our coverage and really preserve an iconic institution played a role for sure. But it played a role almost selfishly because I want to see it keep going, too.”
Magnus added that ESPN has heard from the cast and “They are very happy about the show continuing.”
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
2. Speaking of Inside the NBA...
I’m not proud that I enjoy the latest social media trend in which couples call each other out as “suspects” while revealing embarrassing facts about one another, but, sadly, I do.
So I thoroughly enjoyed the Inside the NBA crew participating in the trend. “Suspect’s gonna get really tired if he tries to name all his kids” is just a tremendous line.
This is the most the Inside Crew has run in 20 years 😭 #SuspectChallenge pic.twitter.com/SSoWvtbz6F
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 20, 2024
3. Even one current NFL player and one former NFL player (and two future Hall of Famers) are concerned about Netflix’s ability to stream a pair of Christmas Day NFL games without any technical issues.
Hopefully Netflix figures out live streaming before the NFL Christmas games 🙏 pic.twitter.com/HLzudmrgkY
— New Heights (@newheightshow) November 20, 2024
4. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: If you are LeBron James, the second-greatest NBA player in the past 40 years behind Michael Jordan, one of the most influential athletes of all time and someone worth more than $1 billion, why on earth would you be on Twitter in the first place? I will never, ever, ever understand why someone like LeBron would subject himself to the cesspool that is Twitter. He should leave, delete his account and never come back. There are only positives in doing that. Zero negatives.
And with that said I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care ✌🏾👑
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 20, 2024
5. I don’t believe this figure. At all. Not even a little bit.
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson makes history with over 108 Million LIVE global viewers!
— Netflix (@netflix) November 19, 2024
It’s the most-streamed global sporting event ever and Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 2 is the most-watched professional women’s sports event in US history. pic.twitter.com/QN1P5EWUEc
6. J.J. Watt had a ruthless response to ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky saying that the Steelers, featuring T.J. Watt, had no chance to make the Super Bowl this season.
Take the teams, names, etc out of it…
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) November 21, 2024
“You’re not gonna beat Team A by kicking only field goals” is a WILD take to make 4 days after LITERALLY beating Team A with only field goals.
That’s like the sports media equivalent of a QB running out the back of their own end zone. https://t.co/sElXp5viBO
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 58th birthday to Troy Aikman. Let’s remember the time John Madden mocked Aikman, telestrator included, for not being able to grow a beard.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN President on ‘Inside the NBA’: ‘We Don’t Want to Change It’.
