As a regular viewer of TNT’s Inside the NBA, you already know what a great show it is. Funny, topical, insightful and lots more… but mostly funny. Other members of the TV sports media know it, too. The show wins numerous awards and honors.
While we love watching our man Shaq play and chat with his friends (especially Sir Charles Barkley), it’s the man at the center of the desk – Ernie Johnson – who’s pretty much the commander-in-chief of the operation.
Johnson has had a long and impactful career in the sports broadcasting business. Not long ago, the Inside crew surprised him with the news that he’d been selected to be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. This week was the official induction, and the entire Inside team showed up to honor Ernie.
The ceremony in New York city was for the nine-member incoming class (or should we say “team?”) for 2023. This year’s inductees: Val Ackerman, Big East Conference commissioner and first president of the WNBA; Lance Barrow, former CBS Sports producer; Cris Collinsworth, NBC Sunday Night Football analyst; Tom Fletcher, inventor of the super-slo-mo camera and other innovations; Steve Hellmuth, former NBA EVP, media operations and technology; Andrea Joyce, leading sports reporter; Tony Petitti, Big Ten Conference commissioner and former TV-network executive; and Jeff Zachary, legendary camera operator.
Along with that group, our favorite front-man, Ernie Johnson Jr., long-time NBA on TNT studio-show host. When it was time for him to come up and receive his award, the rest of the Inside team showed up! Johnson got a bit teary-eyed when colleagues Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley presented the award.
It seemed like a great set-up. The main program was hosted by CBS’s James Brown. When it came time for Johnson’s award, he looked a bit lost and confused. As Brown awkwardly asked for Johnson’s statue, the three NBA analysts, who share the desk with Johnson on a nightly basis, got up on stage to present him with his award.
Check the video.. The rest of the TNT crew fumbled a bit (on purpose, we’re guessing) as they handed over the trophy, and O’Neal made it official, saying, “We wanted to hand deliver this to Ernie. Congratulations brother.”
Kenny Smith also chimed in, “We love you” he said. ‘You definitely deserve it. You guys are among greatness right here with this man.”
Johnson’s decorated career spans over four decades, majority of which was spent at TNT as a play-by-play announcer and studio host. He officially joined Inside the NBA in 1990 and has been a key part to the program’s success. It’s his (big!) job to keep Shaq, Smith and Barkley on track and focused on the game at hand, even when the discussions get heated and sometimes out of hand.
For Inside the NBA itself, the program has won 17 Sports Emmy Awards, being named the best daily show and best weekly show on multiple occasions. Johnson won six awards for his work as a studio host while Barkley won for as a studio analyst. Inside the NBA was also inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2016.