The end of the NBA on TNT is nigh, but not so for many of the network’s most familiar faces.
NBC announced on Tuesday that longtime TNT game analyst and Hall of Fame ex-Pacers guard Reggie Miller will join the network for its return to NBA coverage next season. Miller will take on the same role he’s held for years with TNT as NBC’s lead game analyst.
NBC’s NBA coverage team
Miller will continue to work for TNT through the end of the 2024-25 season, then join NBC next fall for its new era of NBA coverage. Miller will join a broadcast booth that will feature network veterans Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle as its lead play-by-play announcers. NBC has also hired NBA veteran Jamal Crawford as a game analyst.
Hall of Fame finalist Carmelo Anthony will reportedly join NBC as a studio analyst.
Amazon’s NBA coverage team
Miller’s move to NBC means that he will no longer work with Kevin Harlan or Ian Eagle, both of whom he’s called game alongside on TNT. Eagle has reached an agreement to join Amazon for its NBA coverage, which will debut next season. Harlan is reportedly also in talks with Amazon to join its coverage team.
Amazon’s studio show will feature TNT sideline reporter Taylor Rooks as its host alongside former NBA players Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin as analysts. Rooks already works for Amazon as a features reporter for the streamer’s Thursday night NFL coverage.
Both NBC’s and Amazon’s coverage teams remain a work in progress as each continues to build out its roster.
Where things stand with ‘Inside the NBA’
And then, of course, is the biggest news of the TNT/NBA fallout. To the delight of NBA fans, TNT studio show “Inside the NBA” will remain intact and continue to be produced by Turner Sports. Turner Sports will license it to air on ESPN per an agreement between the two networks that was reportedly spearheaded by ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
In return, TNT Sports will take over exclusive rights to a slate of Big 12 football and men’s college basketball games from ESPN in addition to a pre-existing deal it has with the network for rights to College Football Playoff games.
That means that Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will continue to host the beloved studio show that’s been a staple of NBA coverage and culture for decades. O’Neal reportedly agreed to a contract last week valued at $15 million annually that will keep him on the show.
Barkley had previously committed to return to TNT on a 10-year contract he signed in 2022 reportedly valued at $21 million per year. Smith is reportedly expected to sign a new long-term deal with TNT, and Johnson is also expected to remain with the show.
The shuffle is due to the NBA’s 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon that will start next season. The deal means the end of NBA coverage on TNT after a nearly four-decade partnership.
