Kevin Hart bizarrely gives fishing gear to TNT broadcast crew
On a bizarre night for the NBA and its quest to reinvigorate fan interest in the All-Star Game, the TNT broadcast paused in the middle of the championship game to honor “Inside the NBA” panelists Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson.
This season marks the final season TNT will carry NBA broadcast, but it won’t mark the end of the beloved NBA studio show with “Inside the NBA” and its staff moving to ESPN next season — which made the midgame ceremony somewhat peculiar.
Actor and comedian Kevin Hart addressed the crowd at midcourt and praised the four for their broadcasting prowess over the years before inviting them to join him on the floor.
“The All-Star Games and the basketball games wouldn’t be what they were without the energy that they brought to the game,” Hart said.
The four were then presented with signed jerseys from this year’s All-Star Game, along with rings similar to the ones that NBA All-Stars receive.
Hart also poked fun at an “Inside the NBA” running gag segment “Gone Fishin’” that comes up to send teams home after they’ve lost in the postseason.
The comedian presented the four with tackle boxes, fishing rods and bucket hats to “send them fishing.”
While it was all in good fun, it presented as an odd moment considering that “Inside the NBA” is only moving to ESPN as part of an agreement reached between Turner and the NBA after the former filed a lawsuit against the latter when the league reached a $77 billion broadcasting rights deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon.
And the “Inside the NBA” crew is expected to remain intact for the move, especially after O’Neal inked a long-term deal that will pay him more than $15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported last week.
Barkley has a 10-year contract extension with Turner that he signed in 2022, Smith is expected to sign a long-term deal and Johnson is expected to remain with the show, Front Office Sports reported.
Sunday did mark the final time the “Inside the NBA” crew will be a part of an All-Star Game, since NBC will take over the broadcast going forward.
Still, some viewers were a bit confused on Sunday night by the ceremony.
“The extended breaks in these games are really tough. We’re now on to honoring the end of Inside the NBA on TNT when everyone knows its headed to ESPN next season,” Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix wrote on X.
“Isn’t Inside the NBA just going to be on ESPN now with the same staff? What a random time-filler tribute,” MassLive’s Brian Robb wrote.
“I understand its the last all star game for the Inside the NBA crew but to do this during the middle of the game is absurd,” one fan wrote.
