ESPN stalwart Stephen A. Smith has been tipped by the firm’s former president to join the team on “Inside the NBA” at some point after the network secured the rights to the show.
The popular program will be the subject of a reboot for the 2025-26 season, as part of a new 11-year deal which will see it continue in a different guise. While the Emmy Award-winning show will be aired on ESPN and ABC, it is expected that TNT Sports will continue to produce it.
Current host Ernie Johnson is expected to be joined by regular analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith, it remains to be seen what changes will be made to the show. Now, ex-ESPN president John Skipper has speculated that the aforementioned Smith could be brought on board to offer his expertise as an analyst in the future.
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During a conversation on “Pablo Torre Finds Out Podcast”, host David Samson addressed rumors that the TV personality may form part of the new-look show on ESPN. He said: “They’ve got one small issue with ‘Inside the NBA’.
“It’s not going to be Shaq and Barkley and Kenny Smith for every one of ESPN’s game. And so they are going to need what will end up being a … ‘B’ level team studio show to do pre- and postgame.”
in response to this, Skipper said: “They certainly will not want to call it that. hey probably have to account for my friend Stephen A. Smith, who really cares about the NBA, and is not going to want to just be in the shadow of these other guys. I think you’ll see him on ‘Inside the NBA’ at some point.”
Popular broadcaster Stephen A. Smith has been spoken about as a potential panellist (
Jim Cowsert/NBAE via Getty Images)
Replying, Samson then said: “The only way to pay for the number for Stephen A. Smith is you have to it spread across different cost centers within a company like Disney,” before Skipper added: “I will actually hazard a guess that all of the salary is being paid by ESPN, and that Stephen A. has the ambitions to be doing other things he wants to do.”
However, it appears that the former ESPN chief’s proclamations are potentially wide of the mark, with the network’s current content president Burke Magnus having denied that plans are underway to bring Smith on board. He told Sports Illustrated: “We have no plans to do that.”
“And that’s because, frankly, the construct of the deal really doesn’t — that’s not how it was conceived. What is conceived is that Turner, as they have always done with this show, with this cast, with the people involved behind the scenes, are going to continue to do what they’ve always done. And we’re going to distribute it on the ESPN platform.”
He added: “Frankly, that’s exactly what we want. We don’t want to change it. We don’t want to interject new talent into it. We don’t want to really do anything to it.”
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