Luka Doncic isn’t ready to officially say goodbye to the “Inside the NBA” crew just yet.
Speaking with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal on Thursday night after Dallas clinched a berth in the NBA Finals with a 124-103 win over the Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, Barkley said the five-time NBA All-Star would be “sad to be gone” as the team enters a crucial offseason with TNT in danger of losing its rights to the league.
“I’m gonna miss you. Tonight is the end,” Barkley told Doncic, to which Doncic replied, “I’m not done yet. I need to figure something out.”
Johnson then added: “We’ll have it all next year too, and after that who knows.”
This comment, Recent Sports Business Journal Report NBC is focusing on the league’s TNT “B” package starting with the 2025-26 season, putting the future of “Inside the NBA” in jeopardy beyond next year.
Amazon and Disney are also said to be in media rights talks with the league, with SBJ reporting that if a deal were to be finalized, NBC would take over TNT’s package for $2.6 billion per year.
It’s unclear whether TNT attempted to match the offer in hopes of retaining the package.
Barkley, who didn’t shy away from delivering a scathing critique of his boss following the incident as the Crew finished the game on Thursday, did a double take when he heard Johnson end the year.
“I can’t wait for next season. It’s going to be great,” Johnson said, to which Barkley replied, “Ernie, did you say ‘best’ or ‘last’?”
“It’s going to be a great game,” Johnson declared, to which Barkley erupted in laughter.
The scene painted Thursday was a much brighter one than one painted recently by The New York Times, which reported that Johnson and Smith were upset with reporters seeking interviews with Barkley about the current situation.
Smith reportedly “expressed frustration” and said, “She should resolve it through Turner. She should do it the right way.”
“Hey, I can talk to whoever I want to talk to,” Barkley told Smith at one point, before stressing the importance of speaking up.
“It’s people’s lives.” Barkley told The New York Times: About the situation: “It’s not my life. It’s not Ernie’s life. It’s not Kenny’s life. It’s not Shaq’s life. But all the people who work here. There’s probably 100 people who work on the show. So these are real people. I’ve seen their kids be born, graduate from high school, graduate from college.”
The NBA Finals will be broadcast on ABC, with Game 1 between the Mavericks and Celtics starting at 8:30 p.m. on June 6 in Boston.
This will be Doncic’s first appearance in the NBA Finals. He is averaging 28.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the playoffs this season.
