“Inside the NBA” is bred of chaos, but authentically so.
The zaniness essential to TNT’s pre- and post-game show success is a disdain for the scripted.
“Every show is somewhere between a walk on the beach and a train wreck,” host Ernie Johnson described of the chemistry between himself and analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.
Such chemistry has earned nine Sports Emmys since the show’s inception. It works, Johnson said, because this is who these three former NBA stars really are, particularly Barkley.
“Charles is the same guy he was as a player,” Johnson said.