It’s taken a long time, but we finally now know when we will see Inside the NBA on ESPN.
The iconic basketball studio show will make its debut on ESPN this year as part of a unique licensing arrangement with TNT. After the NBA chose to go with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon as partners in the new rights deal beginning this year, it left Inside the NBA without a home as the NBA on TNT’s historic run came to an end.
We’ve known for months now that Inside the NBA would live on at ESPN and become their main studio show, especially for marquee regular season events, the postseason, and NBA Finals. But we didn’t have a grasp of the full schedule. Until now.
ESPN has announced that Inside the NBA will air on 20 nights throughout the regular season with most taking place around ABC Saturday primetime coverage. There will be two appearances opening week on Wednesday, October 22 and Thursday, October 23. Then Ernie, Kenny, Charles, and Shaq will make two appearances before Christmas Day. Finally, their schedule kicks into high gear with more regular appearances beginning on Saturday, January 24.
Here’s the full schedule from ESPN.
| Date | Network | Game franchise |
| Wed, Oct. 22 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Thu, Oct. 23 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Wed, Oct. 29 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Wed, Nov. 12 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Thu, Dec. 25 | ESPN, ABC | NBA on Christmas presented by State Farm |
| Sat, Jan. 24 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Wed., Jan. 28 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Sat, Jan. 31 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Sat, Feb. 7 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Fri, Feb. 20 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Sat, Feb. 21 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Sun, Feb. 22 | ABC | NBA Sunday Showcase presented by Popeye’s |
| Fri, Feb. 27 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Sat, Feb. 28 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Sun, Mar. 1 | ABC | NBA Sunday Showcase presented by Popeye’s |
| Fri, Mar. 6 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
| Sat, Mar. 7 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Sun, Mar. 8 | ABC | NBA Sunday Showcase presented by Popeye’s |
| Sat, Mar. 14 | ABC | NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by Wingstop |
| Sun, Apr. 12 | ESPN | NBA on ESPN doubleheader presented by State Farm |
There has been some consternation over how much of a runway ESPN would give Inside the NBA and whether or not the program would be able to go into the late hours of the evening where some of its most entertaining content takes place. If you want the full experience for every night the show is on the air, it looks like you’ll need the ESPN app for postgame shows after the ABC primetime games.
Inside the NBA pregame shows airing on ESPN will begin one hour before tipoff, with the postgame shows starting immediately after game coverage has concluded. The pregame shows on ABC will begin 30 minutes prior to tipoff. The postgame shows following NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC will start immediately after the game on ABC and continue on the ESPN App. Inside the NBA will serve as the pregame show for the NBA Sunday Showcase series on ABC.
In some respects, that’s what the ESPN direct-to-consumer platform is for. Theoretically, Inside the NBA could go as long as they wanted to on streaming. But it would be disappointing for folks still on linear if they can’t get access to the extended show without an additional subscription for the broadcasts tied to the ABC games.
There has been speculation all offseason over what ESPN would do with Inside the NBA and whether or not the network would make any fundamental changes to the beloved studio show. There have been questions about scheduling, timeslots, whether or not they would try to force Stephen A. Smith onto it. Maybe because it all seems a bit surreal that it could actually happen.
Now that we have actual dates and times it is starting to feel real. But the reality that Inside the NBA will be on ESPN probably won’t fully hit until we see it live and in living color.
About Matt Yoder