Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and Ernie Johnson premiered on ESPN ahead of a doubleheader Wednesday with laughs, jabs and basketball analysis.

Johnson Jr. is the widely respected, six-time Sports Emmy Award-winning host and anchor of Inside the NBA. Beyond the NBA, he is the lead host for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament coverage on CBS/Turner and has covered numerous other major sporting events, including the MLB, NFL, and the Olympics.

Inside the NBA' returns on ESPN this season with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and Ernie Johnson. Here's the schedule.

Despite TNT and Turner Sports ending their NBA coverage after the 2024-25 season, the network has licensed the rights to the program to ESPN and ABC, allowing them to continue airing the popular program starring Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley.

Postgame editions will be open-ended on ESPN while ABC will run a half-hour and then continue on the ESPN app. The program will air on 20 dates during the regular season and throughout the NBA Playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.

A look at the new NBA television landscape, and what to expect as NBC, Peacock and Amazon Prime join ABC and ESPN as rights-holders.

A large majority of NBC's new NBA crew is already well-known by sports and NBA fans, such as Reggie Miller and Grant Hill having worked for TNT, and play-by-play announcers Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle having covered the NFL for the network. Still, there were a few new faces.

Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal returned to the airwaves on the beloved NBA studio show on Wednesday night.