Stephen A. Smith slammed TNT for their failed attempt to keep TV rights with the NBA past this upcoming season.
On Wednesday, the NBA announced a new 11-year TV deal with current partners ESPN/ABC and newcomers NBC and Amazon Prime Video, turning down TNT Sports’ right to match. According to the league, Turner ‘did not match the terms’ of a bid by Amazon.
Following the announcement, Smith took to his podcast and blasted the network over fumbling the deal with the league.
‘TNT dropped the ball here,’ Smith claimed. ‘I’m talking about the brass at TNT. It started years ago when they alluded [to] how unimportant the NBA was to the brand itself and the resistance that they gave in reaching a new deal.’
Smith then shared how a source informed him that NBA commissioner Adam Silver told TNT higher-ups they had to match before a new deal was finalized. However, the network executives continued to play a passive tug of war with the league.
Stephen A. Smith slammed TNT for failing to renew their television rights deal with the NBA
‘There was a bunch of hemming and hawing,’ Smith said about the reaction from TNT. ‘See that’s why [Charles] Barkley has been going off, because he knew and still knows it never had to come to this.’
Besides their coverage of games, Turner’s time was marked by the award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ studio show starring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal.
As Smith praised the quartet and the job they do on the program, the First Take host called for anybody to hire them as a group – including his employers at ESPN.
‘Anybody who can get their hands on Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson should do it, even if it’s ESPN. Yes, I cover the NBA and I think I do a pretty damn good job of covering the NBA. But those brothers are phenomenal and they’re all my brothers.
TNT houses Inside the NBA, which could come to an end with their deal coming to a close s
Panelist Charles Barkley announced that he will be retiring from television after next season
Smith urged ESPN to hire Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal
‘I root for them everyday, all day, all the time. They are a treasure and a tribute to the league itself. There’s no way on earth there should be a basketball season in the foreseeable future – far beyond next season – without them in front of that camera.’
As ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon inked the $77billion deal, TNT threatened to sue the NBA as the fallout unfolds.
With TNT’s last season housing the league around corner, Smith worries for the future of the network.
‘All I can say is I don’t where [TNT] goes from here. I mean how many episodes off ‘Law & Order’ can you air?’ Smith said. ‘I’m just trying to figure it out, along with some of your other programming. You need something live, you need something fresh.
‘How many old movies can you air? So it’s going to be real interesting to see what they do beyond next season. The last days of TNT, the NBA on TNT, is arriving next season.’
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