To the surprise of many, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith is skeptical about joining Inside The NBA when it moves to the worldwide leader in sports next season.
Smith and the current TNT crew, with Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson have chemistry as fans have seen in their crossover episodes during the in-season tournament. So safe to say, at least from my view, this was a genius move by the NBA. The banter back and forth is priceless and a real attention grab.
ESPN President Burt Magnus has already said the company has no plans of putting Smith on the NBA’s flagship program. Although the idea of him on the show would no doubt be intriguing, Smith isn’t in favor of it either.
He explained in an interview with CNBC that he will be there if needed, but also believes the show is just fine as it is: “I love those guys on a personal level, they’re friends of mine. I don’t believe you mess with perfection. And they are perfection.”
So for the foreseeable future, Smith will remain on ESPN’s NBA Countdown. However, don’t be surprised if he makes some surprise guest appearances here and there on Inside The NBA for some fun segments.
Inside The NBA‘s Future
As far as the future of Inside the NBA as a whole, it is still to be determined who will fill out the cast.
Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson have made it clear they will stay on the program no matter what. Rumors abound that Shaq could be pursued by NBC for their NBA coverage next season. If Shaq were to leave for NBC, Vince Carter or Candace Parker could be named as his replacement. As far as Kenny Smith, it would be safe to assume he is not going anywhere either.
Whatever happens, it will be new, and therefore at least a little bit exciting.
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