The NBA on TNT is an American presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) games, produced by TNT Sports (formerly known as Turner Sports and later Warner Bros. Discovery Sports). In the United States, the TNT cable network held the rights to broadcast NBA games from 1989 to 2025, making it TNT's longest-running regular program and sporting event, dating back to only a year after TNT's launch on October 3, 1988. Its telecasts were also streamed on its HBO Max platform from 2023 to 2025. TNT's NBA coverage included the Inside the NBA studio show, weekly doubleheaders throughout the regular season on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a majority of games during the first two rounds of the playoffs, and one conference finals series. It also simulcasted select games with TruTV.
In July 2024, the NBA signed new 11-year media deals with ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video. In response, TNT filed a lawsuit against the league, arguing that their yearly billion-dollar offer matched the deal made by Amazon. The case was settled in November 2024, allowing TNT's parent company to remain involved in the NBA by licensing Inside the NBA to ESPN. TNT also announced that it would continue to operate NBA TV and NBA.com but it later withdrew in June 2025. TNT's contract with the NBA ended with the conclusion of the 2024–25 season and 2025 playoffs. The final game was Game 6 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks on May 31, 2025.
Coverage Overview TNT aired many of the NBA's marquee games, including the NBA All-Star Game, Opening Night games, and games on Martin Luther King Day. During the playoffs, TNT split its games with ESPN and aired a full conference finals series. During the regular season, TNT aired games on Tuesday nights and Thursday nights. To avoid competition with the NFL's Thursday Night Football, regular season games during the first half of the season aired exclusively on Tuesday nights.
In the summer of 1987, the Turner Broadcasting System signed a new joint broadcast contract between TBS and TNT effective with the 1989-90 NBA season. Beginning that season, TBS and TNT split broadcast rights to televise NBA games. TNT held rights to broadcast the NBA Draft and most NBA regular season and playoff games, while TBS only aired single games or double-headers once a week.
The 2001–2002 season would ultimately mark TBS's final year of NBA coverage. Turner Sports signed a new NBA television contract in which TNT would assume rights to Turner's NBA package, while TBS would discontinue game coverage altogether. TNT also broadcast games on Wednesday and Thursday nights; ESPN assumed TBS's half of the league's cable television rights. As part of the deal, TNT acquired the rights to the NBA All-Star game, which was moved to a cable television network for the first time.
In 2008, TNT broadcast the NBA Christmas Games for the first time as Marv Albert and Mike Fratello called the game between the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Quicken Loans Arena, while Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller called the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers in Rose Garden. TNT aired on Christmas Day again in , when it televised the game between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the very first game of the , as a result of a lockout. Albert (himself a former Knicks broadcaster) and Steve Kerr called the game. TNT normally aired NBA Christmas Day games only if it fell on a Thursday (except during the 2011–12 season). However, TNT announced that they would air a Christmas Day game on December 25, 2017 (a Monday) featuring the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers. It also marked the first time that the Inside the NBA crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal called an NBA regular-season game together.
On May 11, 2011, Turner Sports (this includes TBS) broadcast its 1,000th playoff telecast.
For the 2015–16 season, the NBA and Turner Sports partnered with NextVR to stream the Warriors vs. Pelicans, the first-ever game to be broadcast live in virtual reality.
For the 2016–17 season, TNT announced that it would air a new series of Monday-night doubleheaders during the latter half of the season, beginning on January 16, 2017. Monday night games from February 27 to March 27 were branded as Players Only broadcasts, featuring only former NBA players and without a traditional play-by-play announcer. Additionally, TNT announced that it would hold a "Road Show" tour in various cities throughout the season, which would feature fan experiences and festivities, and a live broadcast of Inside the NBA on-location. The tour began in Cleveland outside the Quicken Loans Arena, host of TNT's opening night game featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Longtime lead play-by-play voice Marv Albert announced his retirement at the end of the 2021 NBA playoffs. Albert's final assignment with TNT took place in the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. During the course of the 2021–22 NBA season, TNT anointed Kevin Harlan as its new lead play-by-play voice, assigning him to call the 2022 NBA All-Star Game and the Western Conference finals. Starting with the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, however, Brian Anderson took over play-by-play duties, but Harlan remained the play-by-play voice for TNT's conference finals coverage.
In the 2023–24 season, the NBA introduced its in-season tournament, later known as the NBA Cup, with round-robin playdates on Tuesdays and Fridays during November. TNT broadcast Tuesday games during the tournament, followed by the quarterfinal games on December 4 and 5, and one semifinal game on December 7. In the semifinal games, both ESPN and TNT collaborated on each other's coverage, with Reggie Miller joining ESPN's broadcast, and Doc Rivers (a former commentator with TNT from 1995 to 1999) joining TNT's broadcast. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon also appeared on Inside the NBA. TNT also began simulcasting select NBA games on truTV.
Studio coverage
Ernie Johnson was TNT's NBA studio host from 1990 to the end of TNT's coverage in 2025. He was joined by Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. The NBA postgame show which features the four, Inside the NBA, gained widespread popularity for the chemistry and banter they have. Occasionally, Johnson, O'Neal, Smith and Barkley were also joined by Draymond Green.
Normally the studio crew would stay in the TNT Atlanta studios for all of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs. However, in the 2010–11 season the studio crew started taking their pre-game, halftime and Inside the NBA shows on the road in the regular season, specifically select games involving the Miami Heat on TNT, due to the heightened media coverage surrounding the Heat's acquisitions of LeBron James and Chris Bosh. The substitute studio hosts would also be on hand for Inside the NBA and the other game's pre-game and halftime presentations; the "backup" crew at the time consisted of Matt Winer, Chris Webber and Kevin McHale.
For the 2019–20 season, TNT announced plans to reformat its Tuesday games. The pre-game and halftime shows would have a larger focus on social media interaction, "culture", and "style", while Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker, Shaquille O'Neal, and Bleacher Report's Adam Lefkoe would serve as panelists. The new studio panel was originally intended to premiere with a doubleheader on January 28, 2020. However, due to the death of Kobe Bryant the previous Sunday (which led to the postponement of a Clippers/Lakers game scheduled to be televised as part of the doubleheader), the premiere was delayed to February 4, and the remaining game was instead preceded by a special edition of Inside the NBA from Staples Center, covering the aftermath of Bryant's death. While the Tuesday postgame shows still carried the Inside the NBA brand during the first half of the season (the program airs on Thursday nights during the second half of the season), the Tuesday postgame shows were simply branded as the NBA on TNT Postgame Show for the second half of the season. Jamal Crawford replaced Wade in 2023.
Playoff coverage TNT's playoff coverage was nicknamed 40 Games in 40 Nights. During the first round, TNT aired games from Sunday to Thursday nights, with occasional broadcasts on Saturdays. In the second round, TNT aired playoff games from Sunday to Wednesday nights.
In previous years, TNT and TBS aired doubleheaders opposite each other on each night of the first round of the playoffs, with one network airing a doubleheader at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and the other network airing a doubleheader at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (all times Eastern). Starting in 2000, the NBA spread out playoff series so that only two series would play per day (so as to avoid TNT and TBS competing for ratings). TNT would air doubleheaders on most weekdays, while TBS would air one doubleheader per week (in 2002, TBS aired doubleheaders every Tuesday night of the playoffs until the conference finals).
With the advent of a new NBA television deal in 2003 (which ended TBS's coverage), TNT aired playoff games alone, including (in 2003 only) some weekday tripleheaders. The tripleheaders, which were criticized by both fans and many in the media, consisted of one game at 6:00 p.m., another at 8:30 p.m., and a final game at 11:00 p.m. After 2003, the NBA and TNT discontinued the tripleheaders, instead settling for a doubleheader on TNT and a single game on NBA TV simultaneously. However, when Turner Sports acquired NBA TV in 2008, the network abandoned airing the lone non-national Thursday game, instead leaving it up to the local sports networks. However, TBS still aired the start of the second game on occasion in case the ongoing first game on TNT extended beyond the tip-off time of the second game.
TNT also carried exclusive coverage of one NBA conference finals series. From 2003 to 2025, TNT aired a conference final, with the network airing the Eastern Conference finals in odd-number years beginning 2005 and the Western Conference finals in 2003 and in all even-number years. ESPN airs the other conference finals, with weekend coverage of the ESPN-covered series and the Finals being broadcast on ABC.
For the first round, TNT's coverage of the playoffs was not exclusive; regional sports networks could still carry a local call and presentation of their team's games. After the first round, only national coverage from TNT or ESPN/ABC was produced.
Loss of rights and lawsuit
In 2024, it was reported that TNT was facing the possible loss of its NBA rights as part of its next round of broadcast rights, with the NBA having reportedly reached a renewal agreement with ABC/ESPN and entering new contracts with NBC and Amazon Prime Video.
On July 22, 2024, TNT announced plans to invoke a clause in its contract with the NBA giving it rights to match offers for future media rights, specifically targeting the package that was bid for by Amazon (which includes rights to a slate of Thursday-night regular season games that would begin after the NFL season, the NBA Cup, play-in tournament and playoff games, and six conference finals). Two days later, the NBA rejected TNT's offer of $1.8 billion per year, opting to sign agreements with ABC/ESPN, Amazon, and NBC. The NBA claimed that they had rejected TNT's attempt because TNT was unable to fully match the terms of Amazon's contract. TNT released a response shortly after arguing the NBA had "grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights" forcing TNT to take "appropriate action".