STEPHEN A. SMITH SLAMS TNT

In a bittersweet year for the NBA, as fans still have Inside the NBA for one more season, the future likely will exclude the legendary cast of which we've grown to love or at least find entertaining. ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith expressed his disappointment for the executives of TNT.

"TNT dropped the ball here. I’m talking about the brass at TNT. It started years ago when they alluded to how unimportant the NBA was to the brand itself and the resistance that they gave in reaching a new deal," Smith stated.

David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, started negotiations on the wrong foot, as he foolishly stated, "We don't need the NBA" in 2022. However, since then, Zaslav appeared at a New York Knicks game with a hat of the home team as a "statement" that he supported the NBA.

Ultimately, though, Amazon Prime Video's international reach impressed Silver, and the future possibilities of a streaming site meant more than a cable company with little to offer elsewhere, Inside the NBA aside.

Smith continued his ringing endorsement of the Inside the NBA crew: “I don’t know where that network goes from here,” Smith said of TNT. “I mean, how many episodes of Law & Order can you air…How many old movies can you air? It’s going to be really interesting to see what they’re going to do beyond next season because there’s no way they’re winning this lawsuit. I can’t see it," Smith stated.

Reports of Zaslav taking Silver and the NBA to court seem legitimate, as the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO claimed the "NBA has grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights."

If Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson are true to their word, we'll unlikely see the current Inside the NBA cast past the 2024-25 season.

2024-07-26T03:17:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd