Charles Barkley fires back at ‘Inside the NBA’ critics: ‘People don’t understand’

After a full season on ESPN, Charles Barkley insists Inside the NBA is the same show it always was when it aired on TNT.

Barkley might think the show is still great, and ESPN might be satisfied with the product, but many fans have been critical of Inside the NBA’s first season away from TNT. What was once unanimously regarded as the best studio show in sports, now has some fans wondering whether the old Inside the NBA perished alongside the death of the NBA on TNT.

Barkley joined Jimmy Traina on this week’s SI Media podcast, where he was asked about the accusations that Inside the NBA isn’t what it used to be.

“I don’t know about that, I think when you don’t see us enough, it’s hard to assume what’s happening is happening, to be honest with you,” Barkley said. “I don’t think we changed anything. For what it’s worth, I’ve had a great time with ESPN, I think all the guys have.”

Charles Barkley said ESPN is similarly happy with the Inside the NBA partnership, noting he checks in with Burke Magnus and Tim Corrigan for feedback. And the feedback is always that things with Inside the NBA are going well.

“I don’t think we’ve changed anything,” Barkley insisted again. “We want people to have fun. We’re trying to entertain people. I think people don’t understand, we’re on television from 7 o’clock to 2 in the damn morning. How many people really know enough about basketball for us to X and O them from seven to two in the morning? We have an obligation to entertain people. Do people really want to see us four dummies sit there from 7 o’clock to 2 in the morning and talk about picks and roll, blitzes, over under, elbow wings and things like that? I want people to have fun watching basketball.”

“People don’t understand all the intricacies of the X’s and O’s, “Barkley continued. “We can sit there for five hours and talk like that, but nobody understands that. We want people to have fun watching basketball, because it’s stupid basketball! We’re not saving the world.”

There are some valid complaints about Barkley and Shaq not seeming as interested in the NBA as they used to be. Yes, fans want entertainment, but they also want to feel like Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson are interested in what they’re talking about. And there are times where Barkley and Shaq don’t seem interested in basketball.

But Charles Barkley is largely correct, fans tune to Inside the NBA for entertainment, not hard-hitting analysis and film breakdowns. They go to Inside the NBA for Barkley’s rants and hijinks with Shaquille O’Neal. They go to Inside the NBA because it has been the most reliable form of studio entertainment in basketball for 35 years.

And the biggest issue with Inside the NBA this year, is that it hasn’t been as reliable as it was for the previous 35 years. Yes, ESPN informed everyone of the Inside the NBA schedule before the regular-season, but the show’s prolonged absences were still jarring. Imagine going to your favorite pizza place on the same night every week for 35 years, and all of a sudden they change their hours to a point where customers don’t know whether they’re open or closed. They might make the same great pizza, but if you don’t know when to get it, it probably won’t remain your favorite pizza place for long.

For decades, every NBA fan knew where and when to find Charles Barkley. Every Thursday night on TNT, Inside the NBA was there. The best ability is availability, and unfortunately, Inside the NBA on ESPN has not been as available as it was on TNT.

Basketball is still better off having Inside the NBA on the air, and ESPN deserves credit for salvaging the show from the NBA on TNT’s demise. ESPN has stayed out of the way, they haven’t meddled, and they’ve even tried to give Inside the NBA the space it needs by bumping SportsCenter in favor of giving Barkley, Shaq, Kenny and Ernie more airtime. But you can probably count on one hand the times they went to 2am this season, something that was a regular occurrence on TNT. And unfortunately, some of Inside the NBA’s best moments used to occur during those early morning hours.

Maybe Inside the NBA hasn’t changed from a talent and production standpoint, but the show struggled to get into a rhythm with its audience this season.