Inside the NBA’s move to ESPN has drawn a myriad of responses from fans in great part due to the show’s new schedule. Since the season premiere last fall, the series hasn’t aired as frequently as it did when it was on TNT. Instead of airing weekly, the beloved talk show has cropped up more sporadically in recent months. Needless to say, fans haven’t been shy about sharing their discontent with the change. Now, co-host Charles Barkley is speaking out as well and, given prior comments Barkley shared, this new take is somewhat surprising.
Ahead of Inside’s new season, Barkley shared his hopes for his professional future at ESPN. The longtime broadcaster said he did not want a greater workload under his new employers, citing his age as a reason for that. Barkley is singing a somewhat different tune after a few months working for Disney, though. The “Round Mound of Rebound” appeared on The Dan Le Betard Show and revealed that while the transition has been “great,” he and others “complained” to the bosses about their lighter schedule:
We’ve complained. We’ve only been on ESPN, I think, four times in three months. We did like, the first two weeks, we were off all of December until Christmas and we’re off all of January until the 24th, and I don’t like that at all. What I was talking about working all the time, because I love watching basketball. I’m not going to do all these damn shows. I’m not gonna be on ESPN One, Two, Three, Deportes, Nacho, Echo, whatever they call it. I’m not gonna be doing all that, but I wish that we had been on more during the first half of the season.
As the 62-year-old basketball hall of famer alluded to during his interview (which is on YouTube), Inside the NBA only aired a handful of shows this October and only one in November. The show returned for Christmas Day coverage but, as of this writing, it’s still on hiatus. It’s honestly ironic to hear Barkley say he’d like to work more, given his prior stance but, because he’s been part of so few broadcasts thus far, his sentiments are understandable. Barkley’s aware the season will pick up, but he’s still disappointed:
They’re gonna start making up some of the days. But I wish in December — we only worked one day in December, Dan, that was Christmas Day. And we’re only working one day in January… I wish we had worked more. Because it’s been great, the guys at ESPN has been great. But like I say, we’ll know more after get schedule-heavy [during] the last half of the season.
Inside the NBA’s presence will indeed pick up during the latter stretch of this NBA season, as a number of shows are scheduled to air throughout February, March and April. Barkley and his co-hosts – Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal – will also cover the playoffs and will even provide their services for the NBA Finals this year. Shaq actually likes this schedule, as he believes viewers will be even more eager to watch him and his co-stars during the postseason given their absence.
Anyone who’s still unhappy with the broadcast schedule as a whole, though, may still have reason to feel optimistic about the road ahead. ESPN President Burke Magnus explained that a previously established contractual provision with TNT/Turner was the cause of the low number of airings. Magnus also explained that the main goal for this year was to ink the deal for Inside and, next year, a more robust schedule can be ironed out.
So, by the time Inside the NBA airs this coming fall during the latter part of the 2026 TV schedule, its presence may be much greater than it is now. I’m curious as to whether that’ll be the case and Charles Barkley ends up being satisfied with how frequently he and his colleagues are working. In the meantime, know that Inside returns to ESPN on Saturday, January 24th and that its next two airings will be on Wednesday, January 28th and Saturday, January 31st.
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