America’s favorite TV quartet is officially running it back for several more years to come.
TNT announced Monday that the famed “Inside the NBA” crew of Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Ernie Johnson all agreed to long-term contract extensions with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports.
“Our partnership with the NBA is very important to us and this long-term agreement with the ‘Inside the NBA’ team is recognition of their significance to that relationship,” said WBD Sports Chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser in an official media release. “‘Inside the NBA’ epitomizes the creativity and innovative spirit we’ve established throughout our successful, long-standing legacy with the league.”
“Inside the NBA” has now spent over 33 years on the air. Meanwhile, the widely recognizable team of Barkley, O’Neal, Smith and Johnson has been together since 2011, effectively becoming the Beatles of sports television.
This news is an especially pleasant surprise when it comes to Barkley, who, at 59 years old, recently hinted that he could retire soon. Instead, Barkley now gets a new deal that Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports is for 10 years and over $100 million.
The “Inside the NBA” crew has continued to provide television gold, even as recently as last postseason. Now we can look forward to more of the one-of-a-kind hijinks through the turn of the decade.
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