{"id":1597,"date":"2025-10-23T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/?p=1597"},"modified":"2025-10-23T15:00:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:00:19","slug":"inside-the-nba-remains-steady-in-espn-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/sports-media\/inside-the-nba-remains-steady-in-espn-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the NBA Remains Steady In ESPN Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the NBA<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> made its ESPN debut on Wednesday, and fans of the show would be happy to know that everything that made it so great has mostly stayed the same since making the transition over from TNT Sports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fans were greeted with the same theme music, graphics, as well as Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O\u2019Neal, and Ernie Johnson Jr. acting as their normal-selves. The crew did not hold back either, as Barkley addressed previous negative comments he had made about ESPN right off the top of the show.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Same Chuck, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie<\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Inside the NBA is BACK, this time on ESPN\u203c\ufe0f\ud83d\udd25 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xoPaZ6O0px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/xoPaZ6O0px<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ESPN (@espn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/1981121906284666928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Johnson began the program by welcoming viewers to studio J in Atlanta, with a nod to their new network of ESPN. Network executives made it very clear that they did not want to make any changes to the show, and so far ESPN has held that promise, with TNT still producing all aspects of Inside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus told the <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/espn-president-burke-magnus-inside-the-nba-tnt\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SI Media With Jimmy Traina<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> back in November, \u201cThey\u2019re going to produce it, and that\u2019s exactly what we want. Of course we\u2019re not going to change the show. Why would we take something so successful and so iconic, bring it over and then be like, \u2018We know better, we\u2019re gonna change it.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnus added, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to change it. We don\u2019t want to interject new talent into it. We don\u2019t want to really do anything to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This lines up with a new way that ESPN is doing things, giving more control to their talent. Since adding <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Pat McAfee Show<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the network\u2019s lineup, McAfee\u2019s program has continued to be produced in-house by his production staff in Indianapolis, along with his graphics, format and music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, even though <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Take<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/sports-media\/former-espn-host-sounds-off-on-daughter-facing-transgender-opponent\/\" target=\"_self\">ESPN<\/a>, Stephen A. Smith\u2019s role has continued to increase in the show as an executive producer, in addition to being a co-host for the program. Most recently, Smith helped name Shae Cornette as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Take<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s new moderator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the major concerns of <em>Inside<\/em>\u2019s move to ESPN was the length of the show, as many speculated that there could be a rush to shorten Inside to get to SportsCenter. Wednesday\u2019s debut show aired for its normal runtime of an hour, ending with Ernie Johnson\u2019s infamous Neat-O Stat of the Night (unsullied by sponsorship since 1989). With new faces in new places, The segment featured Johnson quizzing Barkley on broadcasters\u2019 network affiliations, a playful twist on the show\u2019s annual \u201cWho He Play For?\u201d bit.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Inside the NBA takes ESPN<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ernie signed off with the SportsCenter sound on Inside the NBA \ud83c\udfb6\ud83d\udd25 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3N6eg4IiRu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/3N6eg4IiRu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsCenter\/status\/1981230551169163618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#8220;We&#8217;ll be here today.&#8221; \ud83d\ude2d<\/p>\n<p>Inside the NBA is on BACK-TO-BACK NIGHTS\u203c\ufe0f Tune in Thursday at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN \ud83c\udf7f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cpFWdwcaS4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/cpFWdwcaS4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ESPN (@espn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/1981219869598126441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>When and where to watch<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Night two of Inside the NBA airs tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN2, featuring Barkley\u2019s yearly \u201cWho He Play For?\u201d quiz. The show\u2019s early-season schedule is lighter, airing just twice in November and December combined.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the NBA<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will play an integral role in ESPN and ABC\u2019s coverage of the most marquee events of the season, including the highly anticipated annual tradition of the NBA on Christmas Day, as well as the exclusive, national NBA game of the week franchises \u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and ABC\u2019s<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> NBA Sunday Showcase<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the NBA<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will air on ESPN and ABC throughout the NBA Playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the NBA<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> pregame shows airing on ESPN will begin one hour before tipoff, with the postgame shows starting immediately after game coverage has concluded. The pregame shows on ABC will begin 30 minutes prior to tipoff. The postgame shows following <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will start immediately after the game on ABC and continue on the ESPN App. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside the NBA<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will serve as the pregame show for the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NBA Sunday Showcase<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> series on ABC.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside the NBA made its ESPN debut on Wednesday, and fans of the show would be happy to know that everything that made it so great has mostly stayed the same since making the transition over from TNT Sports. Fans were greeted with the same theme music, graphics, as well as Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5665,"featured_media":1600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[267,264,238,285],"tags":[294,324,75,293,326,325],"class_list":["post-1597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-espn","category-news","category-sports-media","category-tnt","tag-charles-barkley","tag-ernie-johnson","tag-featured","tag-inside-the-nba","tag-kenny-smith","tag-shaquille-oneal"],"modified_by":"Steve Carney","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5665"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1597"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1602,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597\/revisions\/1602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}