Shaquille O’Neal secured a lucrative deal to remain on Inside The NBA past this season.
With TNT set to move the program to ESPN next year, questions arose about whether or not the four-time NBA champion will remain with the show.
According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, O’Neal agreed to a long-term deal with TNT Sports that would pay him $15million annually.
‘Shaquille O’Neal has an agreement in place for an enormous long-term deal with TNT Sports that will pay him over $15 million per year,’ McCarthy reported on Friday.
O’Neal joined Inside the NBA in 2011 and has been a key player in the show’s rise to prominence.
Partnered with his natural chemistry with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley, O’Neal’s personality, blunt analysis, and basketball intellect have been his key contributions to the show.
Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to sign a contract that pays $15m-a-year to remain with TNT
The deal places the Hall of Fame center among the highest-paid sports media figures in the world.
TNT’s move comes as a broader silencing agreement, as the network agreed to trade rights to the program for a package of Big 12 college football and basketball games.
O’Neal’s decision to remain with Turner came despite getting offers from NBA and Amazon.
His remaining with TNT also aligns with previous statements about wanting to stay with Inside the NBA as long as possible. Speaking on The OGs podcast in 2024, O’Neal expressed appreciation for his colleagues and the show’s legacy.
‘In a perfect world, I would love for us to stay together forever, but it’s in the hands of the powers right now,’ O’Neal said. ‘But this last year is gonna be a phenomenal year, you know Chuck is gonna go crazy, I’m gonna go crazy.
‘It’s gonna be fun,’ he continued. ‘Hopefully, this is not the last year.’
The show has won 19 Emmy Awards as of 2024 and was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 2016.
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