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NBA All-Star Week is only four days in New York City, but when Shaquille O’Neal packs his suitcase for the trip as part of the ‘Inside the NBA’ crew, he plans on being as prepared.
With more than enough suits, at least.
“You have to bring four suits, and then you have to bring four more and then you have to bring four more just in case,” he said. “So you got bring 12 suits for four days. And you have to bring a lot of tickets to give out to a lot of fans. We just have fun.”
If All-Star week is just a giant party, the hosts are the familiar and beloved broadcasters on ‘Inside the NBA’ on TNT: O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. The group will be on air for four to five hours a day from events Thursday through Sunday of All-Star Week. They’ll also host parties and panels. O’Neal and Barkley both played in a number of All-Star Games during their playing careers, but now they have a different role of part emcee, guide and host.
“It’s our hardest weekend of the year,” Barkley said. “This is the only time we’re on four days in a row. But it’s a big event for us.”
And while it’s one of the busiest few days of the year for them, it’s also one that requires the least amount of preparation – a happy diversion from their usual rituals of stats studying and film watching. They said they’re not even sure who their guests will be.
“You go into it knowing this is fun and games, there’s nothing really riding on this,” Johnson said. “It’s all designed as an appreciation and thank you for the fans.”
There are some things that don’t change from the way the crew operates during the regular season though. While the skills competitions and the All-Star Game itself may mean only bragging rights, that doesn’t stop the crew from arguing about everything as fiercely as they do when there’s actual games or playoff spots on the line. After all, how would the show possibly flow if O’Neal, Barkley and Smith weren’t yelling at each other?
“We’re competitively argumentative,” Smith said. “So it’s like who’s right about who’s going to win the MVP, who’s right about who’s going to win the dunk contest. I think all of us are fans trying to be good at the sport.”
The quartet keeps their air of spontaneity and unscripted ridiculousness alive easily during the week. Johnson points to one broadcast during a previous All-Star week when they went to break and came back with Kevin Hart on set, ready to join in on the conversation.
“(He) just walks up on set and starts gabbing,” Johnson said.
They of course just went with it – it turned out that O’Neal had been chatting with the movie star and just invited him onto the set. Johnson is sure something like that will happen again this year.
“We’re always open to everything,” Johnson said. “And that’s what makes the show work.”