Exclusive: Shaq sets stage for ESPN’s Inside the NBA Year 2 after post-TNT ‘adjustment period’

The move of Inside the NBA from TNT to ESPN was controversial to some, but Shaquille O’Neal is standing by it as it enters its second season on its new network.

Speaking to ClutchPoints during the offseason about his partnership with General Mills, Shaq reflected on the first year of Inside the NBA on ESPN and what fans can expect from the second year.

“Whenever you take a program people have watched for years and put it in a new environment, there’s going to be an adjustment period,” he reasoned. “People are always going to compare everything; it just comes with the territory.”

He knows the move was hard for longtime fans, but he doesn’t believe the program has changed. Shaq promised that “the job hasn’t changed,” and they’ll continue to do it in 2026.

“For us, the job hasn’t changed. Ernie, Kenny, Chuck and I are there to talk basketball, be honest, have fun and deliver the chemistry our viewers enjoy because that’s when the show works best,” O’Neal concluded.

Shaq and the Inside the NBA’s move to ESPN

For almost 40 years, from its inception in November 1989 to 2025, Inside the NBA aired on TNT (as well as TBS, TruTV, and NBA TV).

In July 2024, the NBA announced new broadcasting agreements with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video. ESPN picked up Inside the NBA for its coverage of the league, and it premiered on Oct. 22, 2025.

Luckily, a lot of the show transitioned to ESPN without change. Ernie Johnson still hosts the show, and NBA legends Shaq, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley still join him at the desk.

Whether fans like it or not, Inside the NBA will likely reside on ESPN for the long haul. The NBA signed 11-year broadcasting agreements with networks, meaning Inside the NBA will likely stay on ESPN until the 2035-36 season.

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