Inside the NBA

Let me start off by saying this: I like to watch basketball. If you don’t like basketball, , you probably will not want to watch Inside the NBA over the multitude of other programs on your television, because despite all of the banter and distractions going on, it still is primarily a show based around basketball.

The show is a post-game wrap-up and commentary on the day’s action by Studio Host Ernie Johnson and Analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. Now, any national sports broadcast besides ESPN immediately scores points with me, so Inside the NBA does not have to be great to earn my viewership.

It airs on TNT, usually after NBA game coverage, and often digresses into impromptu discussions, debates and jokes. The commentators view highlights, post-game interviews and discuss NBA related issues, all in an hour time frame.

The commentary often veers off topic however, and while showing highlights the commentators will be laughing about some joke, or speaking about some other issue, and often times highlights are skipped for the sake of allowing banter to continue. To be frank, this is not the most professional or efficient highlight coverage or analysis available.

With that in mind, the commentary offered by Analysts is often insightful, and based out of real basketball experience and knowledge. Discussion usually is usually stimulated by Johnson, who often has to be the one to try and bring the show back to order when it digresses too far. Johnson has a fairly comfortable repoire with his two analysts and understands them well enough to know how to ask questions that will allow their experience to be helpful.

Kenny “The Jet” Smith offers a good balance in the program, holding his opinions when necessary and debating with Barkley occasionally and functions very much as a bridge between the more business/ESPN like Johnson, and the ever-blunt Barkley. His opinions are often well thought out however, and a respected player in his own right, Smith contributes very meaningfully to the panel.

And of course, the show includes commentary by Sir Charles. Analysis by Barkley, while not always popular, and often opinionated, is often based out of his own experience with the game of basketball. As one of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game, he explains his views in a way that is very clear, based on experience that understands the value of leadership, mental toughness, playing habits. Barkley is often quite blunt in stating his opinions, which often does not win him many enemies, drawing criticism from players like Tracy McGrady and Lebron James, but the fact remains that he has his opinion and whether you agree with him or not, his opinions are often very well argued and based on valid points.

Occasional commentary by Chris Webber is helpful, as he provides some more technical basketball analysis, having recently retired, and has the ability to comment on the work of the coaches, having played with many of them in his career. Beyond that, Barkley and Smith are very much “Insiders” on the NBA, in that they know people and know the way things work, so when you watch the show, you really are able to get a sense of what players, coaches and GM’s take into account, and are discussing when you watch the show.

The mood on the show is consistently light, and often entertaining if not always a serious basketball analysis program. Discussions of how Sam Cassel looks like Golum, how Charles used to work as a Pipebreaker, and how Twitter is for losers (Johnson and Smith each have their own twitter), seem to come just as frequently as the highlights, which keep this show entertaining and worth the time of the casual and serious basketball fan.

If nothing else, it’s better than ESPN.