The week’s not over but it’s already a rollercoaster for fans of Inside the NBA. TNT Sports pulled a Hail Mary move attempting to match Amazon’s package in the $76 billion deal with the NBA. On Wednesday, NBA shut that down. It puts the future of Inside the NBA into deeper uncertainty than Charles Barkley’s impending retirement. But Warner Bros Discovery has not run out of aggressive moves yet.

Insiders broke down the major factors why the league picked Amazon over its broadcasting partner of 35 years. These reasons could set the grounds for Turner’s litigation route. The network had many scratching their heads about why they picked a streaming giant’s deal to match. But this would become the three-fold reason that went against Turner.

Turner aimed for two different platforms

A lot of media personalities predicted the NBA would turn down TNT even before the rejection came because of who they chose to match. Turner had the opportunity to analyze ESPN’s, Amazon’s, and NBC’s differing packages before exercising the matching rights in its contract. Most would think the natural choice would be to counter NBC. But they picked Amazon which has a streaming-only deal of 11 years.

WBD proposed a hybrid deal involving TNT-Max, its streaming platform. Turner was hoping for part streaming, part linear. So far there is limited coverage on Max but not live games. TNT’s marquee has always been Inside the NBA. Everyone considered if the Inside Guys would move to NBC or ESPN. A streaming version of the show wouldn’t be viable.

Until the bids, WBD and ESPN were working on a combined sports streaming platform. But this obviously throws those plans to the wayside.

The linguistic dilemma

A multi-faceted platform like Prime comes with consumer conveniences like multiple language options. No amount of Shaquille O’Neal mixing up Serbian with Russian would count. Amazon’s arrangement contained a language feature that called for a streaming audience of a certain size, reportedly 200 million viewers. TNT Max can’t guarantee those numbers.

Hypothetically, if streaming duties were split between Amazon and TNT (the way WBD and ESPN were previously planning), Turner would not pull what streaming platforms with a diverse catalog are. Inside the NBA has high viewership, but Turner’s and ESPN’s ratings have struggled since the onset of live sports streaming. The Inside Guys are no guarantee to revive that.

The biggest factor – financial security

In its existing deal, Turner was paying $1.2 billion to the NBA annually. The new partners are paying between $1.6 to $2.2 billion. Amazon’s annual fees are poised at $1.8 billion. Even if Turner got that deal, it would have to pull big ticket sponsorships to make up that $600 million difference. Note: That’s about the combined net worth of the Inside Guys.

Amazon preemptively took measures if ever they end up in TNT’s position with a “financial security” clause. They will establish an escrow account where they will deposit and maintain at least three seasons of on-time rights fee payments on a rolling basis. WBD reportedly presented letters of credit from banks to match that escrow account.

However, there’s very little assurance that TNT could reasonably manage that massive fee. Especially if it doesn’t secure enough subscribers for TNT-Max.

Turner’s and Amazon’s intrinsic differences in platforms and reach made NBA reject the WBD offer. However, TNT sources claim they consider “a matching right a matching right.” They see legal recourse as their only option now and reports claim that the lawsuit would come before this week ends. So this rollercoaster is not over yet.

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