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Dell Curry isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Eric Collins. Although the longtime Charlotte Hornets TV voices have been added to Amazon Prime’s new broadcast team for the 2025-26 season, Curry and Collins won’t be leaving their current positions with the organization. Curry will remain the team’s main analyst for FanDuel Sports Southeast for the vast majority of games and Collins will still handle play-by-play duties for a bulk of Charlotte’s games. Amazon Prime, which will air NBA games for the first time, officially announced its broadcast team on Thursday. Noted TNT play-by-play voice Kevin Harlan and former NBA player Brent Barry are also being hired for the streaming channel’s game content, joining Curry and Collins.
The NBA and TNT Sports are parting ways again. TNT Sports will no longer operate NBA TV and NBA.com as of October 1, CEO Luis Silberwasser said in a Friday memo obtained by Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. NBA TV, which will continue to air live games next season, had been run by TNT Sports since 2008.
While TNT’s settlement with the NBA requires it to create content for the NBA’s digital platforms, it is unclear whether there will be any TNT-produced content on NBA TV beyond the end of the current agreement. The decision is not a surprise, as early reporting that TNT would continue running NBA TV and NBA.com as part of its settlement was immediately walked back. While Silberwasser said Friday that TNT had been in negotiations to continue running NBA TV, it is not clear whether the league was ever receptive.
With NBA TV originating from TNT’s Atlanta studios, the league-owned channel had for all intents and purposes become a part of the TNT Sports family. Most, if not all, of its on-air regulars held other roles on TNT programming — whether the now-concluded NBA package, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, or in the case of hosts and play-by-play voices, any number of properties outside of basketball.
Michael Jordan is not getting $40 million from NBC
Smith added Jordan will call him to disagree with things he said on-air, and while he’s not as aggressive about it as Kobe Bryant used to be, he’s “candid.” “I don’t think he’s going to be shy about saying what he sees—at all,” Smith concluded. “As a matter of fact, if he is, he’s going to have to deal with me because I’m going to be in his ear telling him, ‘You’re getting shy now. That’s what we’re doing? That ain’t the MJ I know!’” Elsewhere in the segment, Bet-David referenced internet rumors that NBC is paying Jordan $40 million annually. A source tells Front Office Sports that this number, which is about twice what Charles Barkley makes per year from TNT, is inaccurate. NBC declined to comment.
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Elsewhere in the segment, Bet-David referenced internet rumors that NBC is paying Jordan $40 million annually. A source tells Front Office Sports that this number, which is about twice what Charles Barkley makes per year from TNT, is inaccurate.
What has Carlisle done for you, and what have you done for Carlisle? Lloyd Pierce: Well, I think Rick believes in me. I think he believes in all of our staff. He’s allowed all of us to coach our specific areas and really have a strong presence and voice. We did an exercise a few years ago where we took a word and used it to describe ourselves. He said, ‘I think I’m very resourceful.’ And for me to see him operate as a very resourceful person has been very beneficial. Whether it’s reaching out to [the media], reaching out to an agent with regards to one of our players and trying to help echo the same messaging, or like he did the other day, taking the grandest stage for the Indiana Pacers and making sure he gave a sincere thank you to Ernie Johnson and TNT in their final broadcast call. He’s very resourceful in what to say and how to say it, and when to say it and who to speak to in appropriate times. And our players understand that he’s always thinking ahead. He’s always thinking of advantages and that’s the job. The job isn’t the X’s and O’s. He lets us do a lot of that. But he is great about managing the situations, the moments, the players, the opportunity, and that’s how you earn trust and belief of everyone.
Saturday’s Knicks-Pacers NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 6 averaged 8.12 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down 7% from the previous conference final Game 6 — Celtics-Heat two years ago (8.71M) — but the most-watched game of the NBA season. The previous high was 7.91 million for Lakers-Warriors on Christmas, and the previous playoff high was 7.35 million for Lakers-Timberwolves in the first round.
'Inside the NBA' expected to lead ESPN pregame, halftime, postgame shows for big events
Inside the NBA will lead ESPN’s pregame and halftime programming. The show will air live during ABC/ESPN’s biggest events, including the NBA Finals, conference finals, and NBA playoffs. They’ll also be featured on opening week, Christmas Day, all ABC games after Jan. 1, and the final week of the season. ESPN’s own NBA Countdown will survive, but it will be strictly second-string.
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The final episode of Inside the NBA barely finished airing on TNT Sports before doomsayers like Bill Simmons were predicting ESPN will ruin the show. But I’m hearing from sources that ESPN has zero plans to change the iconic show’s DNA. No, you’re not going to see Charles Barkley riding a Booger-mobile on the sidelines. Or Shaquille O’Neal & Co. wearing canary-yellow vests emblazoned with the ABC logo. TNT will retain full editorial control. So expect to see the same funny, bombastic, basketball show that’s earned 21 Sports Emmy Awards during its historic run.
The cast is expected to stay together. With O’Neal signing a long-term extension paying him more than $15 million a year, the Beatles of Basketball TV are all under contract. All four will remain TNT employees, but they’re all expected to report for duty when the show is licensed to ESPN. The show will continue to be produced in the same Atlanta studio with the same behind-the-scenes crew. The only difference is that the set will bear ESPN branding rather than the TNT logo.
Charles Barkley joined The Dan Patrick Show Monday morning and said he committed to doing two more years with TNT, and subsequently ESPN. But with Inside the NBA set to air on ESPN, TNT is building a show featuring Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson that will air on their network. And according to Barkley, it’s not going well.
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