OldSchoolNoBull wrote:I'm torn about this.
On hand, I think the NBA on NBC of the 90s is the greatest NBA telecast there ever was. But I have no idea what the NBA on NBC of 2025 will be like, aside from Roundball Rock. As someone who grew up watching the NBA on NBC in the 90s, I can't say I'm not curious, I can't say I'm not intrigued, I can't say the teenager inside of me isn't just a bit excited about it. But adult me is aware the new telecast could well have nothing in common with the old one aside from the the name and the song.
Given the uncertainty of what the new NBA on NBC will be like, am I curious or intrigued enough to throw Turner and Inside the NBA overboard for it? I'm not sure I am.
I've literally never known a time when Turner didn't have the NBA, when Ernie wasn't hosting Inside the NBA. If the NBA on NBC of the 90s was the greatest NBA telecast ever peak for peak, Turner's telecast, given its longevity, is right up there. And Inside the NBA is an institution. This is the awards section of its Wiki:
As of the end of 2023, the show has won eighteen Sports Emmy Awards. Six times for the best daily show (2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014), six times for the best weekly show (2012, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), four times for the best weekly show – limited run : playoffs (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), one for the best decoration and art visuals (2016) and one for the best social TV experience (2019). Johnson has also won six awards as a studio host (2002, 2007, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021) and Barkley has won four as a studio analyst (2012, 2013, 2017, 2020).
Inside was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in October 2016, becoming the 12th program to receive the honor and the third sports show after SportsCenter and Monday Night Football.[29] They were also honoree by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, becoming the first NBA telecast to win the Curt Gowdy Media Award.
And if the reports are to be believed - that WBD was willing to match NBC's 2.5B offer, but the NBA said, no it has to 2.8B - I'm just not sure why Adam Silver and the NBA are willing to so casually throw away a forty year partnership and one of the most decorated sports shows ever over what would be a small fraction of the overall money the NBA stands to make from this round of TV deals.