The “Inside the NBA” saga rolls on as two of its four castmembers are set to reach new deals with TNT Sports.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith are close to new deals with TNT Sports to remain part of “Inside the NBA” when it begins airing on ESPN/ABC next season, CNBC reported Tuesday. Per the report, O’Neal will sign a five-year deal and Smith will sign a multi-year deal of unknown length.
O’Neal and Smith, like their colleague Charles Barkley, are said to have held discussions with new NBA rightsholders NBC and Amazon about a new role before electing to stay with TNT.
TNT will no longer carry NBA games after this season, but struck a licensing agreement with Disney in which “Inside the NBA” will air adjacent to NBA games on ESPN and ABC — including the NBA Finals. Barkley, who has spent the better part of two years negotiating through the media, has expressed concern about the arrangement — but unlike O’Neal and Smith is not believed to have much flexibility to exit his contract.
As for the new NBA broadcasters, Amazon has already announced that Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki and host Taylor Rooks will form at least a portion of its studio show. NBC has not made any announcements on the studio side — though it has officially named Mike Tirico its lead play-by-play voice — but the network has enough of an established studio structure that it is fairly easy to imagine who will be appearing on its coverage.
Per the CNBC report, both Amazon and NBC have been in discussions with former NBA player Carmelo Anthony about a studio role, and current players like Draymond Green — who has regularly appeared on TNT — Chris Paul and Kevin Love are believed to be on the networks’ radar.
