Shaq got super-cali-bragadocious during the NBA Cup quarterfinals last week when he said, “They watch us.” Charles Barkley has explained over and over what made fans love Inside the NBA. Their friends at ESPN vouched for why the show is a must-see. Fans themselves made it loud and clear to Adam Silver they won’t watch the NBA without the Inside Guys. So when the NBA Cup viewership took a dip, one Fox Sports analyst blamed it on the TNT crew. While doing so, he left the NBA community divided.

Jason McIntyre was on The Colin Cowherd Show with a smokin’ hot take. “I would argue that ‘Inside the NBA,’ the show that everybody loves, has done more damage to the NBA the last decade than anything. Forget about this woke and left and right. Inside the NBA goes on every week and thrashes players, thrashes the style of play,” he said.

He went on to double down on the statement on is social media. ‘Inside the NBA’ was already a trending term on X by then because fans chimed in on McIntyre’s remarks.

McIntyre gave examples of when Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal were too negative in their opinions. He argued that they’re discouraging NBA viewers from the games which is bringing down viewership. His opinion has left the NBA community split down the middle.

Inside the NBA is the hot issue again

McIntyre got a a few ‘he’s right’ and ‘100% agree’ on X. Some added their own sentiment into it like this X user who said, “I’ve been saying They don’t like basketball, they don’t watch basketball, & they essentially discourage people from actually watching But so many NBA “fans” love shitting on the game that they love the show.”

Inside the NBA has been around since 1989, from the start of the NBA’s primetime era. While TNT got shut out as the league goes into online streaming through Amazon, the show remains popular with Shaq and Chuck, as well as Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. While McIntyre is right that they are some of the most critical talking heads on TV – from calling the Warriors “cute” to ripping into Dwight Howard – fans also say that’s their brand. “No, they are describing the current reality of the NBA. They are merely echoing what everyone already sees. They’d tune out if Chuck, Shaq, Ernie, and Kenny lied to them – which apparently you want them to do.”

On one hand they say Inside Guys’ criticism is too unrealistic, as this commenter put it, “heavy agree on this one, show is good for the comedy but the unrealistic expectations and shaming they bestow on players is insane Lmao.” Others said there’s too much comedy to be taken seriously.

According to Charles Barkley, the Emmy-winning sports show with unscripted moments like Shaq breaking the screen has worked for 35 years because it appeals to a diverse audience. That’s why during the NBA Cup games, TNT collectively drew 1.5 million viewers on average. ESPN drew 1.16 million. So Inside the NBA is doing something right as one fan said, “Inside the nba is the villain in everybody’s story but not once do people even look at the way espn presents and discusses basketball.”

Another said, “What Jason fails to realize is that nobody watches those other shows because they’re incredibly boring. Everyone watches Inside the NBA because it’s entertaining. That’s why it throttles all these other sports shows in the ratings.” But there’s a healthy rivalry between ESPN and TNT. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith even got what he campaigned for, that is TNT licensing the show to the Disney-owned network for 2025.

The show is also a unicorn in the sports world. It can be looked at negatively like this – “The show is funny, yes. But the show doesn’t push the game forward. Disparaging your own product that you’re trying to push never made sense to me. This doesn’t happen in any other league besides the NBA. There’s a nostalgia that people have connected to Inside because of the PEOPLE involved, but the actual substance of BASKETBALL doesn’t exist.” 

Or it can be relatable like this – “This is [cap] . inside the nba is the only show keeping the nba alive. The only show thats personable , funny and honest . people watched TNT just for inside the nba.”

Others point out the fallacy in McIntyre’s statement, that the product is at fault. “Inside The NBA getting blamed more than load management, incompetence, and the level of play itself is laughable.”

It’s difficult to put in tangible terms what’s bringing down NBA’s viewership. It’s a widely accepted fact it’s a collection of factors. Shaq says it’s the 3-point epidemic. Those not on TNT payroll say it’s the rampant injuries. Either way, Inside the NBA draws its own viewership independent of the games. If McIntyre’s comments can sway their viewership the way it stirred a debate would have to be seen.