Ernie Johnson is opening up about the timing of his Inside the NBA farewell. On Thursday, he said fairness to his colleagues drove the early announcement of his retirement in a message posted Wednesday.
What We Know: Johnson revealed Wednesday that 2026-27 will be his final season hosting the TNT Sports-produced show. He joined Turner Sports in 1989 and became the program’s host one year later. Since then, he has anchored 37 seasons, including the show’s move to ESPN. Then, on Thursday, he joined The Dan Patrick Show to explain his thinking and whether or not he believes that Charles Barkley will follow him into retirement.
What They Said: (all quotes via The Dan Patrick Show):
Ernie Johnson on why he chose to announce his retirement now: “I just wanted to get it out there. I didn’t think it would be very fair to spring something like that on somebody at the end of the season to say, “Oh, by the way, this is my last game.” I want them to be able to prepare for that and make plans for the future.”
Ernie Johnson on being asked plenty about his future with Inside the NBA: “I actually kind of got tired of people asking me if I was going to keep doing the show. Chuck [Barkley] came out during the summer and said, “Yeah, Ernie and I have done a ton.” He and I talked about it, so that wasn’t like wrong. But it was like nobody’s heard from me, and so I just decided to let everybody know.”
Ernie Johnson on whether he believes Charles Barkley is also retiring: “I don’t know. We have talked about it, but it’s not my place to tell anybody what Charles [Barkley] is going to do. Because no one ever knows what Charles is supposed to do. Nobody knew last night he would have trouble talking about it, which kind of got me right here.”
Ernie Johnson on how the announcement was planned to air on ESPN: “I didn’t know what was going to happen. All we knew was we’re going to do the statement. We’re going to start the show. Probably show a few tweets. Let the guys weigh in. Go to break. I didn’t know that it was going to grip him [Charles Barkley] like that. But that tells you a lot about the four of us because we love each other. It was a moment.”
Ernie Johnson on when he first felt it was time to retire: “I had planned a few years ago, I thought it’s time. A couple of years ago, especially when we lost the NBA, I thought it was over. [But] as a way to say to ESPN and TNT, thank you for sticking with us and trying to make something work, I’ll do a couple of years of doing that. But the whole combination of stuff that that kind of said let’s do two years, and now let’s turn the page.”
Ernie Johnson on the reaction to his announcement: “The outpouring of messages and love from people was staggering. My phone was smoking. It wasn’t just the texts that I was getting. On social, all these people were saying all this nice stuff. You kind of realize maybe the place that Inside the NBA has in a lot of folks’ lives, especially basketball fans.”
What Remains Unclear: Still, Charles Barkley’s next move is anyone’s guess. Johnson said the pair have discussed it, but Barkley’s decision belongs to Barkley alone. Moreover, Johnson admitted he never expected Barkley to grow emotional on Wednesday’s show. Of course, Barkley has repeatedly tied his own exit to Johnson’s in media interviews.
What It Means: Ultimately, Johnson said he nearly walked away when TNT lost its NBA rights. Instead, he stayed two more years to thank ESPN and TNT for keeping the show alive. Now, the flood of fan messages shows how much the program means to viewers. Consequently, his final season should double as an extended farewell tour.
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