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Charles Barkley Shames NBA Owners and Commissioner for Choosing ‘Money Over the Fans’ in New Media Rights Deal

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The NBA has declined Warner Bros. Discovery’s last-minute attempt to retain some of the league’s broadcast rights, but Charles Barkley isn’t feeling it. Barkley is a member of Inside the NBA, the most popular show in sports, which would be nixed as the league moves on.

According to an official statement, the NBA found that WBD’s proposal “did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer.” Consequently, the league has finalized a long-term agreement with Amazon, Disney, and NBCUniversal for its broadcast rights.

Following the announcement, Charles Barkley released a statement:

“Clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance. TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off.

“It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks.

“I just want to thank everyone who has been at Turner for the last 24 years. They are the best people and the most talent and they deserve better. I also want to thank the NBA and its fans — the best fans in sports. We’re going to give you everything we have next season.”

– Charles Barkley

Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT will continue to hold the rights through the 2024-25 season under the current contract. In response to the NBA’s decision, Warner Bros. released a statement on Wednesday, expressing its intent to take “appropriate action” after accusing the NBA of “grossly misinterpreting” its contract rights.

This move marks a significant shift in the NBA’s broadcast landscape, positioning Amazon as a key player alongside established networks Disney and NBCUniversal. Warner Bros. Discovery faces the challenge of addressing the league’s interpretation of its contract.

The post Charles Barkley Shames NBA Owners and Commissioner for Choosing ‘Money Over the Fans’ in New Media Rights Deal first appeared on The Source.

The post Charles Barkley Shames NBA Owners and Commissioner for Choosing ‘Money Over the Fans’ in New Media Rights Deal appeared first on The Source.

NBA Leaves TNT Out of Finalized Broadcast Deal Starting in 2025-26 Season

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The NBA has declined Warner Bros. Discovery’s last-minute attempt to retain some of the league’s broadcast rights. According to an official statement, the NBA found that WBD’s proposal “did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer.” Consequently, the league has finalized a long-term agreement with Amazon, Disney, and NBCUniversal for its broadcast rights.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT will continue to hold the rights through the 2024-25 season under the current contract. In response to the NBA’s decision, Warner Bros. released a statement on Wednesday, expressing its intent to take “appropriate action” after accusing the NBA of “grossly misinterpreting” its contract rights.

This move marks a significant shift in the NBA’s broadcast landscape, positioning Amazon as a key player alongside established networks Disney and NBCUniversal. Warner Bros. Discovery faces the challenge of addressing the league’s interpretation of its contract.

The post NBA Leaves TNT Out of Finalized Broadcast Deal Starting in 2025-26 Season first appeared on The Source.

The post NBA Leaves TNT Out of Finalized Broadcast Deal Starting in 2025-26 Season appeared first on The Source.

TNT Plays Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” During NBA Playoffs Halftime

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Los Angeles has more eyes on it than usual, which is saying something. The Lakers were just eliminated by the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers are fighting to stay alive against the Dallas Mavs, and the Compton savior, Kendrick Lamar, is duking it out with Canada’s favorite son. Some Angelinos theorized that Lamar dropped “Euphoria” at 8:24 am as a tribute to Laker Kobe Bryant, but the Drake diss was unexpectedly tied to the L.A. Clippers on May 1, when the song played during the TNT halftime show.

The halftime panel featured the usual suspects: Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson. Each of them weighed in on who they thought was going to take game 5 (spoilers, but Dallas prevailed) in predictable fashion. The curveball in the broadcast came when the show cut back from a commercial break and Lamar’s ferocious diss track was blaring over the speakers.

It wasn’t even the soft, melodic intro, either. The TNT halftime show was playing the third beat switch. The one where K. Dot cuts loose and calls Drake a bad father (among other things). It was the last things fan expected to hear, and the same goes for the panelists.

Read More: Joe Budden Reacts To Kendrick Lamar’s New Diss Track “Euphoria”

Kendrick Lamar’s Hardest Bars Made The Broadcast

Shaq and Kenny Smith began laughing when they heard the song. “C’mon man,” Smith noted. “Y’all putting us in the middle of the rap beef. [Now] we in the middle.” The Jet then joked that the network needed to play Drake’s “Push Ups” in order to stay neutral. The rest of Inside the broadcast went over without any beef talk, but one of the panel members actually weighed in on the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle previously.

Shaq voiced concern for both artists during an episode of his podcast The Big Podcast With Shaq. “I like competition,” he admitted. “I love it, you know, because we all have egos. We all say we’re the best and the fans want you to prove it.” The NBA legend asserted that things between Drake and Kendrick Lamar would be fine as long as they kept their conflict to the music. “I just hope it don’t go into all that other stuff,” he added. “You know, ‘My crew see your crew and we start fighting and shooting and all that.’”

Given Drake and Dot’s track record, it doesn’t seem like Shaq has anything to worry about. The same goes for the rest of the TNT panel.

Read More: Drake Reacts To Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” Diss: “See You Soon”

The post TNT Plays Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” During NBA Playoffs Halftime appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Everyone Hates TNT’s Drone Cam

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Sports broadcasting is always trying new things. Sometimes these things work, such as the NFL’s Skycam. Other times, it takes a while for things to catch on, such as Fox‘s Cletus the Football Robot. There has also been the revelation of spring football leagues, where new tech is often trialed. The USFL has previously introduced innovations like helmet cams.

Basketball is a difficult sport to film, given the much smaller court and the need for quick and frequent transitions. In the past, broadcasters such as ABC have utilized a high-angle, track-mounted cam to be able to follow the action. But in Game 2 of the Sixers-Celtics series, TNT debuted a quadcopter drone to fly over the game at various points. Safe to say, people do not like this.

TNT Drone Cam Is Not A Hit

The drone cam footage, which obviously can only do so much given it’s about 10 feet off the ground and can’t get too close to the action, is just kind of weird. It gives the game an uncanny valley, NBA 2K-esque look. It doesn’t feel like you’re actually watching a basketball game. Even worse, you don’t even get to play the fake video game you’re watching. Furthermore, the footage is not of the same quality as the HD TV broadcast, making it jarring to switch between the two. While it’s kind of neat to see drone technology like this, what’s it really adding to the experience?

The general consensus on social media was that everyone hates the drone. This is mostly because it doesn’t add anything to the experience, and also looks bad. One Twitter user posted a picture of Hitchbot with the comment “When they try that drone came in Philly”. Hitchbot was a hitchhiking robot that successfully hitchhiked coast-to-coast in Canada. They tried the same experiment in the US, and Hitchbot was brutally murdered as soon as he reached Philadelphia. Another user expressed their sympathy for the media team, who presumably had the drone cam forced upon them. Again, drone cam sounds fun in theory but in practice, is a superfluous novelty that doesn’t actually add anything to the viewing experience.

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