The last time Inside the NBA Wasn’t on TNT, this was life in Kentucky and beyond
As the NBA prepares to shift media partners in 2025, one of the league’s most iconic franchises—Inside the NBA—is facing an uncertain future. With Warner Bros. Discovery losing NBA broadcast rights, the legendary postgame show featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal is leaving TNT, relocating to ESPN or ABC.
It’s hard to imagine Barkley’s unfiltered takes—blunt, hilarious, and often just slightly off the rails—airing on Disney-owned ESPN after an NBA Finals broadcast. Even the magic of "guaranteed" and Shaq’s deadpan delivery may be sanitized in a new setting.
So it’s worth asking: what was life like the last time Inside the NBA wasn’t part of the TNT experience?
To answer that, we have to go back to 1989—the final season before Inside the NBA debuted as a studio show in 1990. A lot has changed in 35 years.
Cost of living, then and now
Gas was just $1.00 a gallon in 1989. You could fill up your tank for a twenty-dollar bill and still grab a soda and a candy bar inside. Compare that to $3.19 per gallon today in 2025, where a fill-up can cost a family close to $60.
A new home in 1989 averaged around $120,000. Fast forward to 2025, and the median home price is $412,000—a massive jump that far outpaces inflation. For many young Kentuckians today, homeownership is more dream than expectation.
Groceries were simpler too. A half-gallon of milk cost just $1.09. Ground beef was about $1.30 a pound. You could feed a family for $200 a month. In 2025? Most households are spending $700 to $1,000 monthly, and in Kentucky, the average is around $308 per person.
A movie ticket was just $3.99. Today, it’s between $10 and $12. Postage stamps were 25 cents. Now? 73 cents. Even cars have taken the leap: the average new car in 1989 cost $12,000. In 2025, you're likely looking at $48,000.
The bottom line: everyday life in 1989 was considerably more affordable and less complex than it is in 2025.
Kentucky sports in 1989
The last time Inside the NBA wasn’t part of our weekly routine, things looked very different in Lexington.
Kentucky Football finished the 1989 season 6-5 under head coach Jerry Claiborne—no bowl bid, but a winning record nonetheless. That stacks up favorably to the 4-8 mark in 2024, which left fans frustrated and asking hard questions about the program’s direction.
Kentucky Basketball, meanwhile, was in the midst of a dark chapter. The 1988–89 season ended at 13-19, with the program on NCAA probation for major recruiting and academic violations. Rick Pitino had just taken over, bringing hope but facing a major rebuild. The Cats were banned from postseason play and trying to restore their damaged reputation.
Fast forward to 2025, and the basketball team is again in transition, but this time under very different circumstances. Coach Mark Pope has built the deepest roster in college basketball, and expectations are sky-high.
TV was simpler. Sports were simpler. Life was simpler.
In 1989, there was no social media firestorm after every take. No instant highlight reels on YouTube. You stayed up to watch Inside the NBA not because it went viral, but because it was the only place you could see guys talk real hoops, with just the right mix of analysis and absurdity.
Inside the NBA became more than a postgame show—it became part of the fabric of basketball culture. Barkley, Shaq, Kenny, and Ernie didn’t just talk about the game. They lived it with the audience. They disagreed. They made fun of each other. They gave voice to fans in a way that no other sports show ever had.
And now, as it prepares to leave its TNT roots, it may never be quite the same.
What comes next?
The media world is changing fast, and Inside the NBA is being swept along in the current. Whether it ends up on ESPN, a streaming platform, or becomes a relic of a different era, it’s worth taking a moment to remember what made it special.
The last time we lived in a world without it, the Kentucky basketball program was reeling. The football team was stuck in mediocrity. Gas was cheap, houses were affordable, and you didn’t need a subscription to watch a game.
Now, things are more complicated—but the love of the game remains.
If Inside the NBA taught us anything, it’s that sometimes, you need to laugh through the chaos, tell it like it is, and never take yourself too seriously.
Let’s hope whoever takes over next remembers that. For now NBA on TNT has gone fishin'