ESPN and ABC are expected to have the rights to air ‘Inside the NBA’ from the 2025/26 season onwards.

‘Inside the NBA’ is one of the most popular TV shows in basketball and has been on the air since 1989, when TNT Sports acquired the rights to show NBA games. Yet the programme’s future has been in doubt since the NBA announced a new broadcasting agreement with Amazon Prime Video from the 2025/26 season onwards.

That left TNT, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, without a NBA TV deal from the end of the current season. The two parties have been locked in a lawsuit in recent months, leaving fans unclear whether ‘Inside the NBA’ would continue after 2025.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Warner Bros. Discovery has settled its breach of contract lawsuit with the NBA after an agreement was reached to keep the company in business with the league for at least another 10 years.

It’s believed one of the terms of the agreement is over the future of ‘Inside the NBA’. TNT is expected to continue producing the show, but it will air on ESPN and ABC.

The show’s four main stars – Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and host Ernie Johnson – are expected to continue in their existing roles. No official statement has been made by Warner Bros. Discover, the NBA or ESPN at this moment in time.

'Inside the NBA' is beloved by basketball fans

‘Inside the NBA’ is beloved by basketball fans ( 

Image:

2017 Getty Images)

Johnson has hosted the show since 1990, while two-time NBA champion Smith joined the panel in 1998. Barkley, who never won a championship during his career but was named the NBA’s MVP in 1993, joined Johnson and Smith on the show in 2000 after retiring.

Four-time NBA champion O’Neal then signed up in 2011 after calling time on his playing career, completing one of the most iconic broadcasting teams in American sports. Magic Johnson, Reggie Miller and Chris Webber are among the show’s former stars.

Barkley was asked for an update on the future of ‘Inside the NBA’ in September, shortly before the current NBA season tipped off. He told ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’: “They don’t even have no idea what we’re going to do.

“So I’m sitting in this meeting in Philly. We wanna keep doing the show. I was like, what do you mean? Like, we want to keep ya’ll together. Well, I would consider that because I want all my friends to keep their jobs. I said what are we gonna do? We haven’t figured that out yet. I’m like, what? I says, we won’t have basketball. What the hell are we gonna do?

“And so that’s the thing that’s fascinating. Like I say, I know we got one more year with the NBA then we’re going to lose it. And they want to do the show at least another year, but I’m like we don’t even have basketball. We’re going to pay for highlights!”