Unfiltered Charles Barkley was always the first voice to respond throughout the NBA media rights saga. His primary concern has rightfully been the hardworking staff behind the scenes. It reflected in his immediate statement after the NBA severed 35-year-long ties with Turner. Soon after Chuck, TNT officially declared a legal war to retain the NBA. That sparked an entire debate amid the Olympics mania. Stephen A. Smith, who’s had a lot to say about Barkley’s retirement, had some words about Chuck’s current employer.

Smith doesn’t touch on ESPN retaining its NBA package on his self-titled show. He sounds more disappointed that this situation could mean, “the end of the iconic Inside the NBA.” He jumped right into Chuck’s statement, calling out the new NBA partners and his concerns for his colleagues of 24 years. Smith commended his old friend who he knows has a heart of gold and is always concerned about those he works with. But Smith is as unfiltered as Sir Charles and was not shy about calling him out on the statement.

Smith took exception to Chuck stating, “It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners chose money over the fans.” Barkley alleged that the league wanted to keep Amazon happy and renew its contract beyond the 11-year deal. But Smith confirmed through his sources that TNT was never blindsided the way Chuck makes it sound.

“That statement that he put out it’s not telling the whole story,” Smith began after praising Barkley. ‘The fact of the matter is you can’t sit up there and say that the NBA didn’t want this from the beginning.” Referring to his insights from recent episodes, Smith revealed that Adam Silver talked to TNT leadership, including CEO David Zaslav before the final decision. Smith says that TNT, “knew what the situation was and what they needed to do in order to keep their NBA rights.” 

Without getting into the details, Smith flat out declared that TNT was not “backdoored” the way Chuck implies. He reiterated that the NBA is a business and Warner Bros Discovery had ample opportunity to match. He also pointed out that they know the Turner leadership didn’t take it seriously enough because Barkley himself has said it several times over months. That’s why Smith doesn’t agree with Barkley placing the blame on the NBA for abandoning TNT. But he’s still on his friend’s side and blaming TNT leadership too.

Stephen A. Smith wants to save Inside the NBA

Smith has not been overly chatty about ESPN’s handling of the media rights negotiations. He’s lately on a campaign to get a salary hike with more creative license after an exceptional career. But he’s always expressed wanting to share the airwaves with the current Inside Guys for a long time. He put the ‘TNT brass’ on blast immediately for botching that.

Like Barkley, he too alluded to Zaslav stating TNT “doesn’t need the NBA” in 2022 for their passive approach. “There was a bunch of hemming an hawing,” on TNT’s part, Smith confirmed from his sources with insider knowledge of the negotiations.

So Smith wants Inside the NBA to come under new leadership. That is, he’s pushing ESPN to reboot the show on their network. If he gets that creative control when he renews his contract, it might just happen.

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.