Popular ‘Inside the NBA’ scheduled to air just once on ESPN before Christmas

The popular former TNT studio show “Inside the NBA” will now be a popular ESPN studio show.

But barely at first.

As relayed by Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, “Inside” will air during the league’s opening week for 30 minutes — then not again until Christmas.

That means right around two full months (late October until late December) with no Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith or Ernie Johnson.

That’s a major shame, because sometimes that quartet is more entertaining than the games themselves. And if the games aren’t good, they’ll be the first to tell you (especially Barkley).

Anyway, here’s more from Lewis:

”The TNT-produced ‘Inside the NBA’ is oscheduled to air in a half-hour timeslot following the first ESPN doubleheader of the NBA season October 22, according to the network’s advance schedule. The show would run from 12:05-12:35 AM ET, leading into a Bristol-based ‘SportsCenter’ at 12:35.”

Again, “Inside” is not expected to return until December 25. So two months and three days, to be exact.

On the bright side, that is subject to change. And after NBA fans become aware of it, we bet it does change.

The NBA has already revealed its opening-night games and multiple others, including Christmas Day and MLK Day in late January.