Dynamite Stuff

Not only do hard-core and casual basketball fans watch TNT’s studio show “Inside the NBA.” So do the players, who aren’t always pleased with what they hear and let their feelings be known, almost instantly.

The Phoenix Suns’ Raja Bell is the latest to vent -- at halftime. And that has helped make the show a much-talked-about hit, one regarded by many as the best sports show of its kind on television.

It was Tuesday night, Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. Bell, widely regarded as the Suns’ best defender, hadn’t liked what he heard from Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson on the pregame show. Of Bell, who was nursing a calf injury, Barkley said, “I don’t think he can be effective at all. They said he wasn’t going full speed, but the game is a full-speed game. He might give them a lift, but I don’t think there is any way he can come out and play.”

Johnson, although praising Bell for his play against the Lakers and Clippers in the two previous rounds, said, “If he’s not healthy and going up against those Dallas guards, he’s going to hurt the Suns, not help them.”

When the first half was over, there was Bell telling TNT’s sideline reporter Craig Sager that he’d been watching the pregame show in the weight room.

“I heard those guys talking before the game, and I felt a little disrespected,” he said. “I don’t think I’m hurting my team. If I felt I’m hurting my team, I would sit down.”

Barkley, responding to Bell’s saying he felt disrespected, said, “I hope it wasn’t like this when I played -- we have all these whiny

Said Smith: “I feel disrespected that he doesn’t know Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley’s names ... [calling them] ‘those guys.’ That’s disrespectful right there.”

Smith also said, “Get the TV out of the locker room.”

Barkley: “He don’t have no Nielsen box, that’s the people we need.”

Magic Johnson: “Don’t worry about us, just play the game.”

Barkley: “Or do like the Pistons -- blame the coach. Don’t ever blame the announcers.”

Bell ended up being the catalyst in the Suns’ 106-86 victory, scoring nine points in 30 minutes. But that wasn’t the last word.

After the game, Bell joined the TNT crew on the set and said, “Everything’s good. They caught me when I was a little emotional. I love those guys, and they were my idols growing up. I have nothing but love for them.”

Barkley, of course, got in the last word.

“Make sure you have someone else crank up your car tonight,” he told Bell. “Me and Magic both disappeared during the game. TNT people were looking for us. So have a friend you don’t like crank up your car.”

It was fun. It was entertaining.

It is Barkley who sets the tone for the show.

He is the star, with a strong supporting cast in host Ernie Johnson and analysts Kenny Smith, Magic Johnson and, more recently, rookie broadcaster Reggie Miller.

Barkley’s grammar may cause teachers to grimace, but his candor is what makes him so good on the air. He is like John McEnroe on tennis or Johnny Miller on golf. They say whatever comes to mind -- from harsh opinions to funny asides -- without worrying about the consequences.

When Kobe Bryant got upset with Barkley earlier in the playoffs, Barkley told Bryant the same thing he often says, “I have no agenda when I come on the set.”

Barkley took Bryant to task after the Lakers star took only three shots in the second half of a Game 7 loss to the Suns in the first round. “He wanted to prove, ‘You guys can’t do anything without me,’ ” Barkley said. “But the truth of the matter is, he was very selfish.”

Bryant text-messaged Barkley the next day, letting him know that, in no uncertain terms, he was upset. Barkley reported on the air that Bryant had text-messaged him, and pretty much stood by his comments, even though he backed off a little by more than once saying, “Kobe Bryant is the best basketball player in the world.”

Game 7 of the Lakers-Suns series was May 6. On May 17, Bryant flew to Atlanta, where the TNT studio is, and went on the show to present his side.In an era of declining ratings, those for “Inside the NBA” are 5% higher for its postgame shows during the playoffs than at this juncture last year.

TNT’s ratings for game coverage at this point of the playoffs are up 11% from last year, and ESPN’s are up 13%. TNT had the most prime-time viewers of any cable network during the month of May, although its playoff run ends with the Western Conference finals. The NBA Finals, which begin Thursday, will be handled by ABC. The quality of the playoff games has no doubt helped boost the ratings.

Ernie Johnson, on the phone from Dallas on Thursday, said, “I was looking at the NBA media guide, and the record for number of games decided by two points or less during the playoffs is 14. I believe we’ve already tied that record. And there have been nine overtime games.”

But even the more lopsided games are drawing big audiences.

Miami’s 91-78 victory over Detroit in Game 5 Wednesday night, televised by ESPN, was seen in 4.99 million homes, the most for any basketball game on ESPN.

The previous record was 4.4 million when Detroit eliminated Indiana in Game 6 of the 2004 Eastern Conference finals.

Johnson, the host, is sometimes the forgotten member of the “Inside the NBA” cast. He is the glue that holds things together.

“I’m often called a traffic cop,” he said, “because I’m directing traffic. But maybe that’s an insult to traffic cops, because Kenny is often colliding with Charles or Charles is broadsiding Kenny.”

Johnson announced in February that he has been battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since August 2003 and will take time off after the season to start a treatment regimen.

When he became the host for the 1990-91 season, he was a solo act. Smith has been on the show for eight seasons and Barkley for five.

“I’d say the show is slightly better now than it was when it was just me,” Johnson said. “Like maybe 1,700% better.”