NBA INSIDE STUFF

 

NBA INSIDE STUFF
(NBC, ABC, October 27, 1990-January 15, 2006
NBA TV November 2, 2013-February 27, 2016)
 
NBA Entertainment Inc.

  

MAIN CAST:
Ahmad Rashad – Host (1990-2006)
Julie Moran – Host (1990-91)
Willow Bay – Host (1991-98)
Summer Sanders – Host (1998-2006)
Grant Hill – Host (2013-16)
Kristen Ledlow – Host (2013-16)
Shaquille O’Neal – Substitute host (2013-16)

  

NBA Inside Stuff was a sports magazine-style show designed to target teenaged viewers and give them unprecedented access to players within the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not just showcasing their performance on the court, but who they were off the court as well.

The 1954 NBA Finals with the Minneapolis Lakers vs. the Syracuse Nationals.

          The NBA had a long history with television networks; beginning with their 8^th season in 1953 airing on the short-lived DuMont Network. However, the lack of supporting television stations led to their switching to NBC the following year. In 1962, the league moved to Sports Network Incorporated (later the Hughes Television Network), then to ABC in 1965 and CBS in 1973. The league would also journey into cable during this time; airing at various intervals on USA Network, ESPN, Turner Sports, TBS and TNT.

Michael Jordan after he was drafted to the Chicago Bulls in 1984.

            Unfortunately, the league was languishing in a ratings slump through the 70s and early 80s. This dark period in the league’s history was also known as the “tape delay playoff era”, as CBS chose to tape-delay game broadcasts in late night timeslots so as not to preempt programming with higher ratings. That began to change in 1984, when lawyer and executive David Stern became the new commissioner of the NBA. He shifted the focus from the teams as a whole to its star players, such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, who preceded his tenure, and Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, who were in the 1984 NBA draft after he took office. He oversaw the expansion of league broadcasts outside of the United States, allowed players to participate in international tournaments leading to the creation of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team (aka the “Dream Team”), expanded the league into Canada, and admitted seven new franchises to bring the number of teams up to 30 by 2004.

            In 1990, NBC reacquired the broadcasting rights from CBS. Along with broadcasting the games, Stern wanted to have a show that the league was in complete control of on the network. He worked with Dick Ebersol, then-President of NBC Sports, to craft a show that would go beyond the games and connect with younger fans to capture that audience. NBA Entertainment, the marketing and production arm of the league, produced a pilot for what would become NBA Inside Stuff and presented it to the network. The series was greenlit, and was placed at the end of the network’s Saturday morning programming where it could serve as a transition into their sports programming.

Ahmad Rashad during his days with the Vikings.

            Stern personally chose former National Football League player Ahmad Rashad about hosting the new program, having met him through sportscaster Howard Cosell. Rashad had played football from 1972-83, ending his career with the Minnesota Vikings. While playing for them, he worked part time as a reporter for the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis. After his retirement, he joined NBC Sports as a studio anchor and game reporter. As part of a promotional stunt to advertise the show, Rashad and Stern concocted the plan to have him actually join and play for an NBA team for a brief time.

            Rashad, then 40-years-old, signed a two-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. He practiced with the team and was allowed to play in an NBA preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the newly-built Target Center. Rashad scored the first and only points of his career, and the 76ers went on to win the game 102-96. Rashad announced his retirement from the game during a post-game interview, giving him technically a perfect career scoring record.

Rashad and Willow Bay on the Inside Stuff set.

            NBA Inside Stuff debuted on NBC on October 27, 1990. Rashad not only hosted, but served as an executive producer and managing editor giving him unprecedented creative control over the show. For the first year, he was joined by journalist and sportscaster Julie Moran as co-host before she left to join ABC Sports Network (now ESPN on ABC). She was replaced by journalist and former model Willow Bay for the next seven years. After leaving to become an anchor for CNN, she was replaced by Olympic champion and reporter Summer Sanders, who also served as a sideline reporter for the WNBA and feature correspondent for NBA on NBC. To not only have a Black man in so many prominent roles on a network show but also a woman on visibly equal footing was groundbreaking for the time.
Each episode had three recurring segments: “Last Night” recapped the games that aired the night before their broadcast; “Rewind” showcased top game highlights, antics such as mascots dunking off of trampolines, and news like player drafts and management changes that occurred over the past week’s games; and “Jam Session” showcased the biggest slam dunks from the week. Much of the program was infused with the hottest music at the time and a few golden classics to help make the series more appealing to their younger viewers as well as embrace the growing hip-hop movement. While they did work off scripts, Rashad opted to have a spontaneous feel to the program by refusing to edit out any line flubs and by engaging in banter with his co-stars.

Jamal Mashburn gives healthy eating tips to Summer Sanders.

            However, the truly unique aspect of Inside Stuff was the equal focus on the lives of the players off the court. NBA Entertainment sought to showcase the players while building a collaborative working relationship built on unprecedented access and the trust that came with that. This allowed fans a greater chance to connect with them than any other show before it. Along with showcasing their interests, talents and activities, Rashad or his co-host would engage in one-on-one casual interviews (or “conversations”, as Rashad would put it). In keeping with the fun and spontaneity Rashad envisioned for the show, that sometimes included participating in the players’ daily routines, following them around for the day, visiting their homes and where they grew up, or just allowing the players a chance to play correspondent for the show. Inside Stuff also took part in the 1994 marketing campaign surrounding actor Bill Murray desiring to join the NBA. It was treated as an actual event by Inside Stuff, with Rashad involved in asking Murray questions during his mock press conference. However, this playful approach didn’t mean they shied away from serious topics; such as Magic Johnson revealing his HIV diagnosis, Rick Fox talking about his attention deficit disorder, or how Dražen Petrović’s relationships suffered due to the wars in his native Yugoslavia. Inside Stuff became a safe forum for players to open up, strengthening the relationship between them and the league.

Rashad palling around with Michael Jordan.

            Much of that access was possible thanks to the friendships Rashad had with many of the players, as well as the relationships Leah Wilcox, Vice President of Player and Talent Relations, had forged with every major star in the NBA. Wilcox would also secure celebrity cameos--such as crooner Tony Bennett, actress Mayim Bialik, supermodel Cindy Crawford, actor Ben Stiller, baseball player Mo Vaughn, rapper and actor L.L. Cool J, comedian Rodney Dangerfield, actor Robert Townsend or singer Pink--to deliver the line “Now, that’s the Inside Stuff!” (or some variation thereof) leading into the first commercial break.

A 1996 issue of the magazine.

Inside Stuff’s formula proved to be a success. The series drew in their young audience and turned many of them into basketball fans. Additionally, it was done in such a way that even older viewers could enjoy it. Players, initially apprehensive about the level of access Inside Stuff was getting into their lives, started clamoring for their turn to be spotlighted on the show. Rashad also utilized the show to slip some educational moments in between kids’ love of the game; particularly with his involvement in the “Stay in School” campaign during All-Star Weekends. In 1992, the series was supplemented with a magazine that tried to capture the vibe of the show and expand upon its content.

            Unfortunately, that success would not last. NBC decided not to renew their contract with the NBA after 2002. ABC picked it up and moved all of the NBA’s content—including Inside Stuff—over to their network; with reruns airing on both ESPN and the league’s own NBA TV. Although their placement on ABC’s schedule was comparable to NBC’s, the problem was that ABC’s Saturday morning line-up wasn’t geared towards the same audience as NBC’s. That meant that most of Inside Stuff’s audience didn’t follow the show over to its new home, nor did it attract the same kind of following as they had before. Ratings suffered as a result. To try and combat this, ABC moved Inside Stuff to their Sunday morning schedule in 2003 where it would lead into the network’s regular sports programming. Rashad attempted to punch up the show with “more documentary-like pieces, behind the scenes looks at stuff like what goes on during an NBA training camp”, as well as deeper profiles into the players by following them around for a week or more.

            Inside Stuff ultimately never recovered its ratings and was cancelled, last airing in January of 2006 after just over 3 years on the network. Rashad, however, would go on to host its replacement, the similar NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad, while reruns of Inside Stuff aired on NBA TV. But the NBA wasn’t done with Inside Stuff yet. Two years after Rashad’s new show ended, it was decided to bring Inside Stuff back in 2013 as an NBA TV original. This time around, the show would be hosted by professional basketball player Grant Hill, who had just retired after 19 seasons of playing. He was joined by sports anchor Kristen Ledlow on hosting duties. While familiar segments like “Rewind” and “Jam Session” returned, the revival series integrated social media participation whenever possible and made us of various NBA Digital platforms.

            Serving as an occasional fill-in host for the revival was player-turned-actor, entrepreneur, pitchman and sports analyst Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal; who himself had retired after 19 seasons in 2011. Shaq’s involvement with Inside Stuff was very much a full-circle moment, as he had appeared on the original show shortly before the beginning of his professional career in 1992. A friendly bout of one-on-one between Shaq and Rashad led to Shaq shattering the glass backboard while doing a slam dunk and landing on his back. After ensuring Shaq was okay, Rashad kept the cameras rolling and quipped “That all you got?” The footage made it onto NBC Nightly News before it quickly spread around the world, becoming the NBA’s first viral moment long before there was such a thing. Shaq had also made additional appearances on the show during his career.
            

Grant Hill and Kristen Ledlow on the new set for Inside Stuff.

The new NBA Inside Stuff debuted on November 2, 2013 and ran until February of 2016. A large part of the series’ original main selling point—getting inside the lives of NBA players—was undone by the rise of social media. Players could now give fans that on their own through their personal or professional accounts and the NBA could take them behind the scenes as well with their own platforms, making Inside Stuff a bit redundant. Not to mention highlights from games could be uploaded online instantly, taking away the recap element the series also offered with “Rewind” and “Jam Session”. The NBA’s website continues to host various episodes of Inside Stuff, while fans have uploaded recordings to YouTube.

The Inside Stuff reunion.

            In the decades since, Inside Stuff remains an important piece of NBA history, helping to further elevate the sport and turn on new fans to it. It’s fondly remembered by those who watched and participated during its initial run, and has influenced sports programs that followed; moving them away from stuffy matter-of-fact news-like storytelling to energetic fun. In 2020, Rashad hosted an online reunion special that aired across the NBA’s social media accounts prior to the two-episode series finale of the ESPN docuseries The Last Dance. In attendance were Bay, Hill, Shaq, Charles Barkley, Muggsy Bogues, Dell Curry, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Tim Hardaway, Ron Harper, Robert Horry, Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, Dikembe Mutombo, Gary Payton, Glen Rice, Mitch Richmond, David Robinson, Detlef Schrempf, John Stockton and Dominique Wilkins. In 2025, it was reported that the NBA was seeking to renew the Inside Stuff trademark just as games are set to return to NBC.