ESPN Is Already Doing Early Damage Control By Leaking That They Aren't Going To Change A Thing About Inside The NBA

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As a fan/viewer, the Inside The NBA "farewell" was definitely weird. If it were leaving TV forever, it would make more sense, and I get why Ernie and the guys may be sad to leave their home at TNT, but it's not like the show is gone for good. As they explained, everyone in front of and behind the cameras is staying around, they're still filming in the same studio etc, it's just going to be shown on a different network.

And while they suggested that things won't be all that different, I think it's fair to be skeptical of that. There's a strong chance that approach is mostly part spinzone and part copium to keep fans/viewers tuning in. We all see the NBA product that ESPN currently puts on our TVs. It's a disaster. In fact, calling it a disaster might be underselling it. It physically hurts to watch. So the pessimist in all of us can only assume that ESPN is going to ruin one of the greatest shows in TV history in some capacity.

Well, ESPN has heard the noise and decided to make a statement about it

…ESPN has wanted Barkley and this show for 20 years. Now that they’ve got it, why would they change it?’”

There are a lot of worries when it comes to the ESPN version of Inside The NBA, but one thing that I think most people were nervous about is how they would handle the postgame. To me, that's always been the best part of Inside The NBA. It's late, everyone has been watching basketball all night, and that's where things tend to truly go off the rails. However long they go for, that's the show. Losing that element of the show would ruin the entire product. There's no point in having Inside The NBA if you don't allow it to be Inside The NBA you know? 

My question is if ESPN is now stating that nothing is going to change, including when the crew goes long after a game, what does that mean for SVP's Sportscenter? Do they just kick him over to ESPN2 or something? Maybe The Ocho? His Sportscenter is basically the only thing I watch on ESPN nowadays other than PTI, so do they just tell him to sit tight until the Inside guys wrap up, knowing it's sometimes going to be well after midnight? That seems….unrealistic.

Based on the reporting, at least for now, that appears to be the plan

There will be an extensive postgame show, say sources. ESPN’s goal is to let the postgame segment run as long as it does now on TNT. As Bomani Jones noted on his eponymous show: “ESPN historically has not done postgame shows. If you’re not gonna do the Inside the NBA postgame show, you’re getting rid of the best part. It doesn’t seem like it will be a gratifying experience. But they also can’t put that on ABC. That would be preposterous.” 

There's also the TNT show aspect of all this, which according to Chuck was a bit of a disaster as well

That sure does sound great!

I'm no TV expert, but I feel like Chuck is someone who is going to be MUCH more honest about this transition than ESPN and everything else happening around it. This "source" and quote about ESPN/Inside The NBA isn't that surprising, considering they desperately still need people to watch. What's the easiest way to do that? Tell the public nothing is going to change. None of us has any idea if that's true or not, so it's the perfect play. Eventually it's going to come time to put up or shut up and let the public see your show, and we'll know right away if it's different. We've been watching Inside The NBA for basically our entire lives. 

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Like all new things, I'm sure everyone will immediately hate the new Inside The NBA because that's mostly how things go when we experience change. It could literally be the exact same show in terms of content and structure, and people will still complain that it's different and ESPN completely killed a once great show. Or, all of our fears could come true, and they really will change things around, and it won't feel right. Either wa,y it's a bit of a lose/lose situation, and the only losers here are us fans. I don't give a shit about network rights and TV money and all that bullshit. I care about something that has been a part of my basketball fandom for my entire life not being screwed with all because of some network red tape or commerical structure or whatever. 

So good luck to ESPN and the Inside crew with this move. Surely a network has never lied to the public before, so why would this be the first time!