TNT
- Inside The NBA is widely regarded as the best pregame/halftime/postgame show on TV.
- Its beloved status is thanks to the antics of Charles Barkley, Shaq, and Kenny Smith.
- Barkley produced another trademark Inside The NBA moment on Monday when he tried to spell “monumental.”
Basketball is probably my fourth-favorite sport these days, behind football (European), football (American), and baseball (the only kind).
Ever since the Nets packed their bags and left New Jersey, my interest in the NBA has waned in recent years, particularly during that stretch of NBA Finals that was strictly between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
And yet, despite this — and particularly when the postseason rolls around — whenever Inside The NBA is on, I try to tune in. I’m quite A.D.D., so when I’m relaxing at home, I’m usually multitasking: I’ll be playing some FIFA or Halo, have a random sports game on mute on my laptop while a podcast is playing. But when the team of Ernie, Shaq, Kenny, and Chuck begin talking, the podcast is muted, the game is paused, and Inside The NBA gets my full attention.
Why? Because it’s good television, that’s why. That’s always been the secret of the program. It has nothing to do with the sport and everything to do with the personalities discussing it. You can tell ESPN has even tried to recreate some of that magic by pairing Jalen Rose and Stephen A. Smith on NBA Primetime. Paramount+’s Champions League studio has also tried to harness that energy with the likes of Kate Abdo, Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher, and Micah Richards. My beloved Mets’ booth of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez is considered to be the best in the sport for that very reason.
Charles Barkley hilariously tries to spell the word “momentum”
What’s especially enjoyable about Inside The NBA‘s greatness, though, is that they’re constantly giving us reminders of why we love to tune in: it feels like we’re writing about the antics of Chuck, Shaq, and Kenny almost daily at this point. And during Monday night’s show, Barkley was kind enough to oblige us with yet another hilarious moment as he attempted the gargantuan task of trying to spell the word “monumental.”
Shaq challenges Chuck to spell "monumental" and it goes how you expect it will pic.twitter.com/FLNX2XIlHr
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 10, 2022
Now that Turner Sports is owned by the newly-formed Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate, hopefully, the new execs are wise enough to back up the fattest of Brinks trucks to Chuck’s house to convince him to stick around for a few more years.