Stephen A. Smith is willing to take his talents to Inside the NBA, but don’t panic, he’s not expecting anything to happen.
With Warner Bros. Discovery losing NBA game rights for TNT, there was no guarantee the best studio show in sports led by Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal was going to continue. But the news last year that TNT Sports’ Inside the NBA will live on through a licensing agreement with ESPN allowed basketball fans to breathe a sigh of relief.
After that sigh of relief, basketball fans began to worry how ESPN might attempt to tinker with the show, or worse, how they might try to force their own talent onto a product that needs no reinforcements. Burke Magnus has already said ESPN has no plans of putting Smith on Inside the NBA, but fans aren’t necessarily sold that the Worldwide Leader will be able to resist the urge of platforming their own talent.
Stephen A. Smith recently spoke to CNBC’s Alex Sherman about Inside the NBA’s looming deal with ESPN. And while Smith said he’s here if they need him, he’s not in favor of messing with the show.
“I doubt I’ll have any role with it, they’re the A-team,” Smith admitted. “I love those guys on a personal level, they’re friends of mine. And I don’t believe you mess with perfection. And they are perfection.”
They’re coming to a network that already has a basketball studio show in NBA Countdown, which Smith stars on. Still, Smith doesn’t view Inside the NBA as any sort of threat or intrusion.
“I love doing NBA Countdown the pregame show, but the level of cache in terms of television real estate that was given to TNT, is not something we’ve ever had,” Smith told Sherman. “For me, my success has never been contingent on that. My success is contingent on First Take, my success is contingent on my personality and what I bring to the table, whether it be SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take, or anything else that I touch and I look at myself as a versatile individual.
“They know I’ll be there, and if those guys on Inside the NBA want me in any capacity, I’m happy to join them. Whether it’s five times, ten times, 20 times or zero. I’m gonna root for them…they know where to find me if they need me, but If they don’t need me, I’m gonna be alright, because I got other things on my plate.”
A plate that Stephen A. Smith is constantly piling on. Last year, he even expressed an interest in having a role on ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage. Obviously, if ESPN asks Smith to join Inside the NBA, he won’t decline the opportunity. That doesn’t mean it would be the right decision.
Smith is one of the best entertainers in sports, but even he seems to understand forcing himself onto Inside the NBA would be a gluttony of personalities on one show.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com