Time for the Finals! The NBA Championship series is on tap, starting tomorrow night (as of this posting date). While the Association puts on its biggest show, one of our favorite TV shows – TNT’s Inside the NBA – is done for the season.
Yes, the heartbreak is real! If you watched Game Seven between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat the other night, you saw the Inside crew express their thoughts on the end of the long season, and plans for the summer. It was – in typical Inside the NBA style – funny, interesting and heartfelt.
During Inside the NBA’s opening act that night, head man Ernie Johnson noted it was the crew’s last night together. That got an immediate reaction from Sir Charles Barkley to say, “Thank goodness.”
Barkley followed up: “I like summer vacation. I love basketball, but I love summer vacation more. I ain’t gonna get on here and lie!”
When asked whether he likes Game 7 or summer vacation more, Barkley said, “Summer vacation,” without hesitation. I love you guys, see you in October,” Barkley added. “That’s the two sweetest words – three words – ‘see you in Oct…’ that’s four actually.”
But wait… not so fast! Maybe Barkley forgot…his broadcast career isn’t over yet. For Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, there’s still on-air work to be done. Yes, TNT is done for the season… the Finals this year are being broadcast on ABC through ESPN.
But… the league-owned outlet NBA TV will be offering its own pre and postgame coverage, and guess who’s going to be the on-air hosts? Yup, you got it… Barkley, O’Neal and Smith. Seems Inside leader Ernie Johnson does indeed have the summer off, starting now. Good for him!
While NBA TV is indeed owned by the NBA, the technical operations are fulfilled by TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Due to the connection, NBA TV pretty much made the obvious move of tapping Barkley, O’Neal and Smith for their Finals coverage.
NBA TV host Jared Greenberg was quick to point out – to Barkley and everyone else – that the season is not over for the crew. Greenberg tweeted to remind Chuck, Shaq and Kenny Smith that they’ll be joining him on NBA TV for their Finals coverage before and after every game between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.
In the past, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith have contributed to NBA TV’s Finals coverage in some capacity, and that will continue this year. The popular analysts are expected to split the series, and will join NBA TV’s crew remotely during their scheduled games.
It’s really going to be interesting to see how the TV ratings shake out. Sure, ABC and ESPN will get the big numbers for the games themselves, but when it comes to pre and post-game coverage and analysis, it’s going to be a real contest.
As a network, NBA TV doesn’t have nearly the reach and audience size of ABC, so it’s definitely a David-vs-Goliath battle. We’ll wait to see how it all works out. As we often say…stay tuned!
