After LeBron James, the next billionaire in the NBA is around the corner, according to Gilbert Arenas. He believes the new class of NBA stars, like Victor Wembanyama, could become billionaires sooner. The reason is the NBA securing a huge bump from $26 billion to $76 billion through the new NBA media rights deal. James’ $154 million Lakers contract was outdone several times over by other players like Jaylen Brown. With the league’s value growing, Arenas may not be far off in claiming that Wemby could command a greater salary in the future. But this might come at the cost of Inside the NBA.

On Gil’s Arena, the presented some staggering numbers through the NBA media rights deal. Cap growth would be at 10% starting from the 2o25-26 season. A max contract of five years could potentially be upwards of $400 million. Comparing these numbers to his time in the league, Arenas could easily see an NBA player earning $100 million in a single season.

“There’s going to be kids that’s going to be billionaires. You know you’re talking about like not even this generation. Wemby is going to be a billionaire while he’s playing faster than what LeBron was,” Arenas claims. Wemby is halfway to Bron’s current contract deal value already. His rookie contract with the Spurs is worth $55.2 million for four years.

The downside of NBA stars getting big salaries is hitting TNT. It’s reported that the NBA has pretty much formalized the deal with NBC for a 2.5 annual fee. That would not only take TNT off NBA coverage, it could mean the end for Inside the NBA led by Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. Even if TNT secures the leftover package, the high costs would make the $100 million contracts for the analysts difficult to sustain.

Arenas is not commenting on the status of Inside the NBA at all. But he saw the aftermath of the NBA media rights coming since Shaq himself was earning millions.

Agent Zero calls out existing NBA media

Arenas accurately noted that the growing salary cap was always going to happen. He joked that there was a time when NBA that was not broadcast live only paid $5000 per game. By the time Shaq rolled around while NBA aired on TNT, he was able to secure the famous $120 million deal that brought him from Orlando to Los Angeles. Player salaries have only grown since then. Interestingly, Chuck and Kenny earn more on TNT than their collective NBA earnings.

With talk of Inside the NBA potentially getting cancelled, No Chill Gil was not feeling sympathetic. He attributed the downfall to lack of original content on the show. This time, Arenas claims that the media has been lying that NBA viewership is low. He claims, if it is true then they wouldn’t be paying close to $7 billion to broadcast NBA games.

Either way the only winners in this will be the league. Because fans want Inside the NBA as much as players getting their worth.