Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most popular personalities during his time in the NBA. So it was no surprise when he took up broadcasting, and quickly became one of the most popular figures there as well. He found a home on “Inside the NBA” on TNT with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson.
The foursome have become synonymous with NBA coverage, with by far the most watched and beloved show surrounding the sport of basketball today. But 2024-25 marks TNT’s final season with the NBA, as NBC takes over alongside ESPN and Amazon next season. When this was first announced, some thought that this meant the end of “Inside the NBA” and the on-screen chemistry of those four analysts.
But ESPN has decided to pick up the show and keep those four together, meaning they are simply switching networks ahead of next season. And Shaq, with Thursday night having potentially been TNT’s final game, gave a charged up speech about his crew and their plans for next season, via NBA on TNT:
"The show is still here baby… WE DEM BOYZ!"
Shaq has us ready to run through a brick wall 😤 pic.twitter.com/QFQ0SOjms1
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 30, 2025
Smith and Barkley were clearly fired up by the speech, and it isn’t hard to see why. O’Neal shows his passion for his co-hosts and his love for NBA coverage, saying that no matter what the network, he and his team will always be there to cover the game they love.
NBA fans are certainly ecstatic that Shaq, Kenny, Chuck and Ernie will be gracing their television screens next season, even if it’s on a new network. And ESPN gets the credit for saving the most popular show in basketball as the NBA switches homes in 2025-26.
Danny Green doesn’t think Lakers can win with LeBron James & Luka Doncic
The Lakers are heading into the offseason with a simple and clear goal, and that’s building a championship contender around Luka Doncic and LeBron James. They knew they didn’t have one in 2024-25, but hoped they could make a run anyways without a traditional starting center. Instead, they lost in five games in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
While the margin for error on turning their current roster into a contender is slim, both Doncic and James have shown that they can lead teams deep into the playoffs in recent years if they are built properly. LeBron has won a championship and been to a second Western Conference Finals in the last five years. Luka was just in the NBA Finals with the Dallas Mavericks last season.
But one former player who doesn’t fully believe in the Luka-LeBron tandem is Danny Green, a member of the 2020 Lakers team that won the NBA championship. He sees enough flaws in L.A.’s top two that building out a contending roster feels unlikely.
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