SVG Sit-Down: Executive Producer Tim Kiely Provides an Inside Look at Inside the NBA With a documentary set to air this week, Kiely reveals secrets of the legendary studio show By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - 11:48 am
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This Thursday, TNT will air the first of a four-part documentary looking at the history of Inside the NBA, the groundbreaking studio show that has been informing and entertaining NBA fans for 30 years. Episodes air March 4-7, and Inside the NBA Executive Producer Tim Kiely sat down with SVG to discuss the evolution of the show, how it remains unique, and why the big board matters.
From left: Inside the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley on set this year.
Has Inside the NBA always been in Studio J, or was it in a different location at the beginning?
I got there in 1996, and we would do the shows out of an old building called The Mansion that was originally with the property. It was hilarious as it was almost a little booth in a building where Ted [Turner] did CNN and also wrestling. We would see the wrestlers come in and out of the locker room as we were going into our studio. It was a pretty wild scene. Then Studio J came into existence when they built out the newer buildings. There were all kinds of state-of-the-art space, and there are about a half dozen studios the size of Studio J.
Walk us through the evolution of the set design and how it evolved to where it is today with the big board.
People tend to want to change the sets and do different things all the time. But, about 15 years ago, we fell onto this particular set, and it has just sort of evolved with the show itself. The big board, for example, was not meant to be a video breakdown thing. But we looked at it and said, Wait, could we do that?
It was experimentation. If the guys didn't like something on the set, we would make fun of it because we make fun of everything. The spirit of the show is, we hope for mistakes to happen so we can celebrate them, things like Shaq [O'Neal] tripping over it and destroying things.
At one point, we had a sales stunt where Ernie [Johnson] drove a car into the set, and he actually clipped the set and busted off a chunk.
You mention that TV people like to change things. How do you not change things and fall into that trap of change for change's sake?
The magic word is chemistry, whether it's the people or whether it's the technology. The technology is the same everywhere, so it's a matter of how you use it and what your on-air people will buy into. Once we found things like the big board and the fact that the desk was very, very utilitarian, we could use it for a bunch of different things.
The big board works perfectly for Kenny [Smith] to be able to break down a play in a different way than what you see everywhere else. It's almost like he directs the viewer a little bit, but he lets your eyes follow the action, as opposed to just putting it in your face, drawing lines and saying this guy's gonna run here and this guy should run over there.
The original idea of the big board was not for things like highlights?
Yup, that was not it at all. It was just going to be a place for more graphics, lineups, and that sort of thing. But we started putting video into it for bumpers and then [VP/Coordinating Director] Steve Fiorello started to roll video into it, and Kenny loved it.
I do think that touchscreens are one of the worst inventions for on-air talent, [which] are trying to push buttons and also trying to think of what to say at the same time. You've lost the ability for creativity because they've totally lost their comfort. But, with the big board, Kenny is totally comfortable because it's like the old coaching stuff, where they would hang a bedsheet and project the films on it. The guys can feel comfortable talking or using video or sound or whatever to their advantage.
Was there ever a thought of using green screen or virtual sets?
In the late '90s, we were doing things like putting Ernie in green screen, and it just didn't work out. It's great for scripted things, but, once you start to have a conversation and you're supposed to be referencing things around you, it doesn't feel natural. And then it becomes mechanical. One of the first thing I tell people on set is to look at the person you're talking to, listen to them, and then you'll have a conversation. With green screen, you can be sitting in a vacuum.
Whether on the road, like here in 2014, or in Studio J, the Inside the NBA team always feels at home.
You mentioned not being afraid of making mistakes. Is that a challenge? To accept mistakes?
I think you embrace it. If we were doing a serious news show, that's one thing, because you're reporting on a murder and you're on a scripted show where you need to hit a time and hard outs. Things evolved to where we started to look to the late-night talk shows, where [David] Letterman would do things like unabashedly make crew members part of the show. Our lighting guy became part of the show, and the viewer at home is fascinated to see how TV works. If a mic went out, we would tell the audio guy to go out on the set and fix the mic now. And the viewer at home doesn't see anything wrong with that as they go to work and maybe read an insurance policy wrong.
And, if someone misspeaks, like Charles who is famous for contradicting himself in the same sentence, we would immediately roll it back. Twenty years ago, you couldn't do that as someone would threaten to walk off the set. But players love busting each other's chops, and the best thing in most busting of chops is when somebody makes a mistake.
What is the key to the chemistry that has developed
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SVG Sit-Down: Executive Producer Tim Kiely Provides an Inside Look at Inside the NBA With a documentary set to air this week, Kiely reveals secrets of the legendary studio show By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
