The Big Lead

NBA’s Media Rights Spat With Warner Bros. Discovery Is Getting Ugly

The longtime broadcast partner announced Friday it has “taken legal action” against the NBA to maintain its media rights.

By Joe Lago

Jun 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley talks on set before game three of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley talks on set before game three of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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Warner Bros. Discovery’s $1.8 billion offer for Amazon’s package of NBA media rights gave basketball fans hope that TNT’s much-beloved “Inside the NBA” show would continue. On Thursday, the league ended that optimism when it chose Amazon over WBD, stating that “Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer.”

Anxiety over WBD’s and TNT’s future with the NBA arose in May with reports that the league did not include its broadcast partner since 1989 in upcoming rights deals. Charles Barkley, the basketball Hall of Famer and four-time Emmy Award winner, regularly made light of the situation on “Inside,” making jokes that he was “on LinkedIn” looking for his next job.

Now that it's official that the 2024-25 NBA season will be TNT’s last, Barkley could no longer hide his disappointment.

In an Instagram post on Friday, Barkley called out the league for kowtowing to Amazon because “these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future (and) the NBA didn’t want to piss them off.”

“It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans,” Barkley added. “It just sucks.”

WBD is not giving up. On Friday, TNT Sports announced that it has “taken legal action” against the NBA. Not surprisingly, the statement included “the best interest of fans,” another accusation of the league being greedy.

One thing is certain: “Inside the NBA” will go out with a bang. As lame-duck hosts of a show that has set the standard in sports media, the “Inside” crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Barkley will entertain viewers like never before. Topics that were hands-off will now be fair game. The walks down memory lane reviewing the show's epic moments will be emotional.

Expect Barkley to not hold back, too. He just about guaranteed that in a comment on Friday’s IG post.

NT broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal (left) and Charles Barkley
Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; TNT broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal (left) and Charles Barkley talk during the 2013 NBA All-Star slam dunk contest at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

“We’re going to give you everything we have next season,” he wrote.

That surely includes routinely giving the NBA a piece of his mind.