After weeks of anticipation and prayers, the dreading news has finally been announced. According to the Wall Street Journal, the NBA has decided on all of its partners for the new media rights deal. The new $76 billion deal will include NBC, Amazon, and ESPN as the primary partners. Yes, that means after next season, there will be more Inside the NBA. The crew of Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith will have their ‘Last Dance’ come next year.

Under the new deal, media giants ESPN hold the most lucrative deal, having to pay $2.6 billion per season to the NBA. They ran off with a handshake deal in the exclusivity window, something Warner Bros. Discovery was unable to secure due to the asking price, Their resistance paved the way for NBC’s Comcast to attain the NBA for the first time since 2002. They will be paying the $2.5 billion as was heavily reported and Amazon will hold the least share of games and will pay the NBA $1.8 billion per year.

This marks the end of a four-decade legacy Turner had with the NBA. It is exactly how long Inside the NBA aired on television and provided unlimited entertainment to the fans. Johnson, Kenny, Shaq, and Charles Barkley had a unique and infectious dynamic. It touched millions of fans. Hearing the introductory tune of the show became a custom for before and after NBA games.

Without their presence, the NBA won’t be the same anymore. There will be one last hysterical segment, a final guarantee of Chuck, Shaq’s contagious laugh, and the Jet’s run to the board. Next season will undoubtedly be emotional more so for the crew rather than the fans. The four have shared the same stage and countless memories behind the scenes for over 10 years. Even though it is almost official, no one wants to see the end of the iconic show.

But there it will be when Johnson won’t say “See you next time”.

Why Inside the NBA can’t be replicated?

There was always an authenticity about Inside the NBA. It came to be because Turner wanted every entity to be their selves. Back in 2011, when Shaquille O’Neal joined the show, he initially struggled to mingle with the crew. It was because he “wanted to be the black Bryant Gumbel and use big words” as he told Draymond Green. Turner immediately threatened to fire him under the pretext that he wasn’t being his true self.

Once he embraced the process, the doors of that cherished dynamic opened. They had the perfect synergy. Yes, they bickered. Shaq and Barkley might have swung at each other if Ernie wasn’t there. Kenny Smith might have never allowed his basketball acumen to fly if the show hadn’t given him the platform. Inside the NBA did much more than just provide entertainment. It gave many people jobs and cultivated a family-like bond. “I think that’s what makes our show the best show out there” the Big Diesel further admitted.

That’s the reason Shaq couldn’t think about the show’s demise without sorrow. “Like damn, no Ernie [Johnson], no Chuck, no Kenny [Smith]” the NBA Hall of Famer wondered. It makes it all the more upsetting now that the news has been revealed. There might not be another show that allows natural characters to shine as luminously as TNT did.