Barkley Joked About Future Of ’Inside The NBA’ As They Went Off Air

The Dallas Mavericks made the NBA Finals on Thursday night when the team won Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. From a basketball perspective, this means that Dallas will take on the Boston Celtics in a series that starts next week and has the potential to be a classic.

But for fans of Inside the NBA, this is almost certainly going to be the last time we see the fellas before the next NBA media rights deal is all sorted out. If you believe the current reporting, it sounds like Turner might end up on the outside looking in, which has drawn the ire of Charles Barkley. And as Ernie Johnson sent the show off the air for the final time this year, Barkley saw a chance to crack a joke about the whole situation.

“Cannot wait for next season,” Johnson said. “It’s gonna be a blast.”

While Johnson attempted to praise folks around the show, Barkley couldn’t resist the urge to say something.

“Hey,” Barkley said. “Did Ernie say blast or last? Did you say blast or last?”

Chuck thought this was an all-time great quip, presumably because it was. It wasn’t the only comment about the future of the show on the evening, as Luka Doncic joined the set after being named the Western Conference Finals MVP and expressed that “we gotta figure out something” to keep the show around.

Fortunately, Luka learned that Inside will still be around next year. Whether it’s a blast or if it’s the last time we will see them, however, remains to be seen.