It’s going to take some getting used to next NBA season, when Turner (TNT, TBS) is no longer scheduled to carry games. That means fans of the show Inside the NBA are going to have to look elsewhere for their favorite crew. Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal are headed to ESPN.
Johnson will be in a new home for the first time since 1990, when he first started to host the show. Johnson has been the mainstay on the show and the guy that keeps it all together. More on that in a moment.
Johnson was born in 1956 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended high school at the Marist School, a private Catholic school in Brookhaven, Georgia, and graduated in 1974. He then went to the University of Georgia and majored in journalism. Johnson played first base on the Bulldogs baseball team his freshman year. He graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude.
Road To Turner Sports
While at Georgia, Johnson got his first sportscasting gig, serving as the news/sports director at WAGQ-FM in Athens.
In 1979, Johnson was hired as a news anchor at WMAZ-TV in Macon, Georgia. He spent a couple of years there before moving on to WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1981. Johnson then worked in Atlanta at WSB-TV as a general assignment news reporter in 1982, and became the station’s weekend sports anchor and reporter in 1983. He held those jobs until 1989, when he left to join Turner Sports.
From 1993 to 1996, Johnson called Atlanta Braves baseball games for SportSouth (now FanDuel Sports Network South) with his father, Ernie Johnson Sr.
What Makes ‘EJ’ So Good?
He’s so consistent. That’s the highest compliment I think you can pay a studio host. Consistency in delivery of information, in presentation, and in command are vital to a show like Inside the NBA. You see Johnson and you know you’re going to be entertained. It’s a challenging job, dealing with personalities that are larger than life, but Johnson understands how important he really is to the show’s success.
“I think the key is always to know your role, know your material, know how to prepare, and know that the show is not about you,” he told me in 2020. “Working with Kenny, Charles, and Shaq is about as much fun as you can have in this job. You just have to keep in mind that they’re the ones who played the game at the highest level. Nobody in the audience cares what I think is going on in a team huddle with a second and a half to play, but these guys have all been there. We need to hear from them,” Johnson said.
I’m sure Johnson knows the answer to most of, if not all of, the questions he asks the panelists during the course of a show. But trying to prove you’re the smartest person on the set doesn’t get the results you’d think it would. Knowing the answers makes your questions better, and in turn, the audience gets to hear from the guys that played the game. Everybody wins.
He could teach a master class in the art of hosting. Smooth, prepared, and knowledgeable. Those are words I’d use to describe him. Plus, it’s all about flow, and getting the show moving in the right direction.
“My role is to move the show along from point A to point B to point C, and be armed with the latest information from around the league which will spark conversation,” Johnson told me back in 2020. “That information can be anything from a key stat to a quote from a player or coach which begs a response from our trio of NBA players. I think the reason our show has been successful through the years is that no matter how ‘high profile’ the personalities may be, nobody has tried to make the show about themselves.”
Part of the reason the guys on the panel respect Johnson is that it shows.
What makes Johnson such a good broadcaster is his versatility. He’s a ‘plug and play’ guy—put him in a situation and he succeeds. Johnson’s career also includes hosting Turner and CBS’s coverage of NCAA March Madness. He’s also been the lead play-by-play announcer for Turner’s MLB coverage, and he’s handled calling the PGA Championship, The British Open, Wimbledon, and the Olympics. Not a bad little résumé.
Johnson is very relatable. There is a genuineness about him. He is a warm and seemingly friendly face on your television. Whether it’s handling serious topics in the world, a personal tragedy, or just backing up his colleagues, Ernie shows empathy without making it about him.
He lets the audience in as well. When Ernie’s adopted son Michael, who had muscular dystrophy, passed away in 2021, the TNT crew honored Michael with love and respect. Johnson opened up to his audience, sharing personal stories during a very difficult time. He gave viewers a look at who he is—a family man first, a broadcaster second.
The Future Of ‘Inside The NBA’
Change is on the horizon for Inside the NBA. Once the NBA Playoffs reach the Finals, Turner Sports will no longer broadcast games. Johnson and the rest of his crew will continue to do the show, but will move to ESPN starting next year. So, the show in its original orientation will be no more.
In July of last year, the NBA announced its new 11-year broadcasting agreements with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) tried to match Amazon’s offer, but it was rejected. WBD filed suit against the NBA to rule that TNT’s offer, in fact, did match Amazon’s deal.
Both parties reached a settlement, allowing WBD to continue operating the NBA’s digital properties. WBD also entered into a sublicensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company to broadcast Inside the NBA on ESPN and ABC beginning in the 2025–26 season, with TNT Sports continuing to produce the show with its existing personalities.
Johnson, always one to take the road less traveled, approached the last regular season show by just saying thank you.
“No time for bitterness,” Johnson said on the final season show. “It is time for appreciation, it’s time for gratitude, and it has been my pleasure to be one of your co-workers, one of your teammates, and a part of this family. Love you.”
The crew even had a little fun with the final regular season telecast, ending things in true TNT fashion. Photoshop was used to place the host and panelists’ faces on the characters from the HBO show The Sopranos, mimicking the end of that series.
The whole Inside the NBA production will continue at TNT’s studios in Atlanta, and is set to move from Thursday to Saturday. The schedule and network change are the only differences from the past, with TNT set to continue operations after mastering the show. Johnson signed a long-term deal with Turner.
Did You Know?
Johnson is an author, having written a book in 2017 called Unscripted, the story of his life when the cameras aren’t rolling.
“If there’s one thing life has taught me, it’s not to fear the unscripted but to embrace it,” Johnson says on the website promoting the book.
His father, Ernie Johnson Sr., was a Major League Baseball player. Johnson Sr. later became a television sports commentator.
Johnson is a devoted Atlanta Braves fan. Though he was born in Milwaukee, his family moved to the Atlanta area when he was nine, as his dad retired from playing. He considers Atlanta his hometown.
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Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
