‘Inside the NBA’ is in the middle of its first full postseason run on ESPN after decades on TNT. Viewers have noticed the show feels different. And now Bill Simmons, one of the most prominent voices in NBA media, has gone on record about what he thinks the actual problem is.
This week, Simmons has gone on the record and pointed the finger directly at Shaquille O’Neal.
Bill Simmons Rips ‘Inside the NBA’ Analyst Shaquille O’Neal
“Shaq is the biggest issue with the show. It seems like he’s there because it’s fun to be on the show, but it doesn’t seem like he follows basketball at a high enough level anymore. Like, he doesn’t know who people like Celtics forward Baylor Scheierman are. You’re on a studio show covering a sport, you know? There has to be some sort of a modicum of following the game,” Simmons said.
“They have a chance to flip the narrative again these next couple rounds. The basketball’s better, there’s more of a spotlight on them. It’ll be easier for someone like Shaq because there’s only four teams left, he can just watch the game and figure out what happened. He’ll know who Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is,” Simmons added.
The Baylor Scheierman moment Simmons referenced became a small talking point online earlier in the postseason when O’Neal appeared unfamiliar with the Celtics forward during a postgame breakdown.
For a show built entirely around knowledgeable analysts breaking down what just happened on the floor, not recognizing a rotation player who has been in the league for two seasons is exactly the kind of thing that feeds the criticism Simmons is articulating.
To be fair to O’Neal, Simmons also acknowledged in the same podcast episode that the structural problems at ESPN are a significant factor. Inside the NBA was built to breathe after games on cable, where it could run as long as the conversation demanded.
On ESPN, it is squeezed between Scott Van Pelt’s SportsCenter and late-night local newscasts, forcing the show off the air on a tight clock. The show has also aired far fewer times this season than it did during its TNT years, disrupting the natural chemistry and rhythm the cast developed over decades together.
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Still, Simmons drew a contrast between O’Neal and his co-stars that is hard to ignore. Charles Barkley has been everywhere this postseason, appearing in interviews across multiple platforms. Kenny Smith signed a separate side deal with ESPN to appear on other studio shows throughout the season.
Simmons is not predicting that the show is done. His point is that it is underperforming, that the Shaq situation is a real and specific issue.
He also claims that the coming rounds with just four teams left give everyone involved a genuine chance to remind people why ‘Inside the NBA’ was worth fighting to keep alive in the first place. Whether O’Neal uses that window is the question now sitting before him.
