Since 1989, sportscaster Ernie Johnson has hosted Inside the NBA on TNT and shared his insights on professional basketball. Over the past several decades, Johnson has been joined by other panelists who provide their takes as well. Johnson is currently joined by Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. The quartet are fun for fans to watch, you have to wonder what it’s like for Johnson to actually work with those three big personalities. Well, he’s opening up about that and doing so in a hilarious way.
It goes without saying that of the four hosts on Inside, Ernie Johnson is easily the most reserved. Yet the 68-year-old TV industry veteran wasn’t his typical laid-back self (for just a little while) during his appearance on The Draymond Green Show. Co-host Baron Davis (who, like Green, has appeared as a fill-in host on the TNT show) asked Johnson what it’s like having to control the chaos that comes with his co-hosts’ larger-than-life personalities. To that end, Johnson explained in the YouTube video that it can go a few ways:
You’ve both been in there with me. You know what it is. Every show is somewhere between a walk on the beach and a trainwreck. And, half the time, you don’t know what it’s gonna be until you hit the air. Part of the deal is, look, we all have lives. We all have [situations where] some days are good, some days are a little rocky. You may be bringing that to the chair when you sit down.’You had a bad day. Shaq, you had a bad day.’ He doesn’t feel like taking anything from Chuck, and you can tell right from the start if that’s gonna happen. So really it’s just kind of a feeling out process.
Kenny Smith joined the series in 1998, while Charles Barkley was added to the broadcaster’s table in 2000. And, since 2011, the show has also featured Shaq, who struggled early on to adjust to the format. In that time, the group has created TV magic, contributing to some truly funny on-air moments. Shaq and Barkley’s antics are particularly beloved by audiences, including their humorous back-and-forths and A+ jokes.
I can’t even imagine having to go through the process of “reading the room” while preparing for a broadcast with the likes of Sir Charles and co. Yet Ernie Johnson manages to maintain his composure, even when the series goes off the rails, much to the delight of viewers. As for how the six-time sports Emmy winner would sum up his job on the talk show, he described it in the perfect way:
People call me so many different things in that role. It’s, ‘Hey, he’s the ringmaster. He’s the point guard. He’s the traffic cop.’ I’m actually that traffic cop who’s not very good at his job because, instead of trying to wave people through the intersection with no fender benders, I’m like waving Kenny this way, because I know Shaq is gonna broadside him. And so, in that way, I’m a little bit of a rogue traffic cop. But that’s how it goes, man. And, if folks at home are sitting there going, ‘I have no idea what is gonna happen next on this show,’ join the club, man. Cause half the time, I got no idea either.
The TNT Sports veteran may lament some of his co-star’s habits, but there are teams when even he can’t help but laugh at what they do. Check out this clip from an “On The Clock” segment that’s since become revered by fans:
Considering how much fun the hosts have on set and how successful the show has been, it’s wild to think that it nearly came to an end last year. Inside the NBA faced cancellation due to Warner Bros. Discovery’s (TNT’s parent company) losing out on the rights to the league. Around that same time, Ernie Johnson gave an emotional Emmys speech that had me in my feelings. Thankfully, though, following corporate negotiations (and wild statements from Charles Barkley), WBD reached a historic deal with ESPN to licence out the show starting this coming fall.
So Ernie Johnson can likely expect more on-air shenanigans as Inside the NBA’s run continues. While it’s funny to see the group taking the piss out of each other, it’s abundantly clear that they truly care for each other. Johnson’s colleagues surely love him, and he feels the same way – no matter how wild his buddies get.
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