“Thank you for being our leader.”
Charles Barkley spoke those words through tears on Wednesday, moments after Ernie Johnson confirmed live on air that this season will be his last at the desk of Inside the NBA.
Johnson, 70, told viewers the decision was his alone.
“This will be my last season. Totally my decision. It’s just time,” he said during the broadcast.
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Barkley, sitting next to him, took several seconds before he could find the words.
“We knew the day was coming. It’s still tough,” he told Johnson.
He then thanked Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and the production staff for more than 26 years alongside the host.
“The question I’m probably asked the most is, is Ernie just as good a person as he seems? And I say, ‘Man, he’s better than that.’ I just want to say thank you.”
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Shaquille O’Neal turned the focus to the present.
“We’re not too worried about what’s going to happen next. What’s happening now is we still here, and we’re gonna have a great year,” he said on the broadcast.
Health, family and 32 Bowties
Johnson pointed to his health as part of the reasoning. He underwent bypass surgery around 14 months ago and told viewers he wants to slow down and spend more time with his wife and five grandchildren.
He has no plan to leave broadcasting altogether. He has launched a production company, 32 Bowties, and intends to stay with NCAA March Madness coverage and selected work for TNT Sports and CBS.
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver paid tribute in a statement.
“Few people have shaped the way fans experience the NBA as profoundly as Ernie Johnson,” Silver said.
A show no longer on TNT
Inside the NBA is no longer the TNT property it was for most of Johnson’s tenure. TNT Sports still produces the show from its Atlanta studios, but it now airs on ESPN and ABC and is scheduled for 25 regular season appearances this season.
Barkley has already said on The Bill Simmons Podcast that he and Johnson were a “package deal” and that this is “100%” his last season as well, though he made no formal announcement on Wednesday. If both go, the farewell will strip the show of two of the four voices that defined it.
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Smith and O’Neal are expected to stay. Names reported in US sports media as possible additions include Adam Lefkoe, Draymond Green and Jalen Rose, but ESPN and TNT Sports have not confirmed a new line-up.
Johnson will remain in his chair through the end of the 2026-27 playoffs.
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