Famous podcaster believes TNT has lost NBA rights

There's been no official announcement on the NBA's upcoming TV deal, but one big-time podcaster says it's a done deal. And TNT is out.

On "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Bill Simmons, a veteran of ESPN and former host of HBO's "Any Given Wednesday," hinted that the NBA has accepted the offer from NBC for a portion of its rights package, shutting out TNT.

"The NBA media deal talks are over,” Simmons said in his most recent episode. “TNT lost it, NBC is getting it. I don’t know why they’re waiting to announce it.”

Why they’re waiting might be that TNT is still airing the playoffs through the Western Conference Finals. The new deal wouldn’t start until the 2025-26 season but with some very different broadcasts.

Amazon is reportedly paying $1.8 billion per year to get a package that includes play-in games, the in-season tournament and a conference finals every other year. ESPN is paying $2.6 billion for a reduced rights package that still gives them the Finals and one conference finals series.

The last chunk of the right packages turned into a contest between Comcast, who owns NBC, and Time Warner Discovery, who owns TNT. NBC reportedly bid $2.5 billion, and according to Simmons, who is very plugged in with sports media.

Neither TNT nor the NBA has confirmed that the league’s longtime home might be out, but TNT seemed to hint at the end of the line with a nostalgic tweet asking for memories of longtime "NBA on TNT" host Ernie Johnson.