The biggest benefactors of TNT’s setback would quite possibly be its biggest stars. As the faces of Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Ernie Johnson have become irreplaceable in the sports scene. So with their TNT jobs potentially axed, other networks are reportedly making their moves. Amazon showed interest in the quartet right after the NBA picked them over TNT. Now their co-platform in the NBA media package, ESPN is seeking Stephen A. Smith’s old frenemies for their network.

Barkley’s retirement announcement and repeated statements to retire out of TNT and no other network don’t deter ESPN or Amazon. After the league finalized the deal, Amazon Prime exec, Jay Marine expressed, “Inside the NBA, in our opinion, is the gold standard for programming. I’m a huge fan. We’re all big fans. It is so entertaining. Those guys are hilarious. The chemistry is off the charts.” 

Marine said the 35-year-old show was the inspiration behind their NFL analysis show, Thursday Night Football. He remained vague about recreating the same magic right after finalizing the new NBA media package but the interest is obvious. “We’ll have to see how all this plays out. We just signed the deal. They’ll have no shortage of options depending on what they want to do.”

As he said, Amazon’s other partners sound keen on the Inside Guys too. ESPN has been seeking Chuck for years but he’s always maintained he won’t work like a “dog” for them after they laid off several of his friends. NBC’s current chief, Mark Lazarus, previously worked at Turner and presided over Inside the NBA. He would know how to recreate the essence of the show. But the biggest positive is that Barkley, even after announcing his retirement, said it wouldn’t be so bad working for Lazarus again.

TNT is preparing for litigation after its final bid was axed. But most predict it won’t affect Shaq and Chuck at the least. But the show is greater as a whole and not its parts. It depends if ESPN or Amazon get all four on board.

The Inside Guys’ contract situation

The Inside Guys signed 10-year contract extensions in 2022 with massive salary hikes. Barkley revealed that his contract has an out clause in case TNT loses the NBA. According to reports at that time, Shaq also has an out. Kenny never talks about his contract in public. But Ernie’s is got to be complicated because of his MLB and golf commitments at WBD since 1989. Some also speculate the possibility that their contracts prevent them from going to rivals.

The out clauses could make Shaq and Chuck the most expensive free agents in sportscasting history. They command a $10 million annual salary at Turner alone currently. But sports business watchers predict they could now go as high as $20 million.

At least Amazon can safely afford all four with salary hikes and the massive production costs of this unscripted live show. There are however other obstacles to contend with. And it still remains to be seen if TNT would release its biggest on-air moneymakers amid a legal battle.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us in the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.