Exclusive | NBA insider Chris Haynes leaving TNT for free agency after five years

Posted by author August 29, 2024 NBA

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Another star NBA insider is about to hit the market.

Chris Haynes’ contract with TNT Sports is expiring shortly and he will be leaving the network, The Post has learned.

A rep for Haynes declined to comment.

TNT Sports NBA reporter Chris Haynes is a looming free agent. Instagram / Chris Haynes

TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is tied up in litigation with the NBA over the matching rights clause in its previous TV deal.

The NBA prefers Amazon to TNT as the league’s third rights partner along with ESPN and NBC.

Haynes is like a Swiss Army Knife as a media talent, as he is a sideline reporter on games and a news-breaker in addition to being able to handle feature stories across audio, video and print platforms.

He worked for ESPN and Yahoo Sports prior to his recent roles at TNT and Bleacher Report (which is also in the Turner Sports umbrella).

Haynes became a sideline reporter for TNT in 2019, and his writing moved over from Yahoo to Bleacher Report in 2022.

It remains to be seen if his next deal will be sliced and diced with multiple companies or if he will be full-time at one outlet.

Haynes also hosts an NBA podcast, “#thisleague UNCUT,” with fellow insider Marc Stein.

Earlier this month, The Post reported that NBA insider Shams Charania is leaving Stadium after six years, with his deals at The Athletic are FanDuel also coming up.