Can we please not slam the NBA in this thread? I have literally been watching Ernie do this since I was 12 years old. I’m legitimately going to miss him.
Ernie Johnson hanging up the bowtie
- Thread starter HailStout
- Start date
Can we please not slam the NBA in this thread? I have literally been watching Ernie do this since I was 12 years old. I’m legitimately going to miss him.
Class act and one of the great ones
Have never watched him other than the shorts snippets of Shaq & Chuck being funny on the NBA show.......close friend told me about the documentary of him and his son.......I was floored and wished I had watched him all along (just not a NBA) guy.......so to Ernie, God speed, the world needs more men like him
I met him a couple of years ago, but I couldn't remember his name. He couldn't have been nicer about it.
I have a hard time remembering names as it is, and the NBA pre-season had just started so I wasn't thinking about "Inside the NBA". He was next to me in line and I recognized his voice when he placed his order, and I just said "Excuse me, aren't you a sports announcer who's name I can't remember?" He laughed, reminded me of his name, and we had a little chat about the upcoming season. Really nice guy.
I have a hard time remembering names as it is, and the NBA pre-season had just started so I wasn't thinking about "Inside the NBA". He was next to me in line and I recognized his voice when he placed his order, and I just said "Excuse me, aren't you a sports announcer who's name I can't remember?" He laughed, reminded me of his name, and we had a little chat about the upcoming season. Really nice guy.
He's got one of the most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting. I hate to see him go. Didn't he have some sort of illness several years ago?
Did he say he turned 70 this summer? He looks like he's 50.
His dad Ernie Johnson Sr. was a great broadcaster too, back in the day for the Braves. I remember a few games where both Ernie Sr and Ernie Jr broadcast a Braves game together.
He said he had heart surgery 14 months ago.
He is still going to do March Madness coverage on TNT/CBS and some other media but the grind of Inside the NBA is getting to be too much for him.
Don’t forget Skip Carey and Don Sutton
Good days
Skip Carey, Don Sutton, & Ernie Sr were incredible announcing the Braves games on WTBS back in the 80's & 90's.
Hot Take - Skip Carey announcing the Atlanta Hawks games was better than those guys doing the Braves.
That documentary was great. When I was telling my father about it, he talked about his dad & I never realized he did Braves games. I hadn't connected the dots.
Like you, I just knew him as the guy trying reel everyone else back in on the show via hilarious YouTube clips. That's a great rabbit hole to go down.
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After I posted, he had non-Hodgkins lymphoma (successfully treated) as well as prostate cancer since the early 2000s. And now, heart surgery. He's had some health bouts for sure. I too have had heart surgery and have felt much, much better over the years for having had the procedure.
And Harry Carey/Joe Garagiola for the Cardinals in the '60s. Not to mention Dizzy Dean. There have been some really classic announcers over the years.
Forgot to mention I had to google (or I suppose that's the AI that Google uses nowadays) to see what his health challenges were.
This tribute from Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, & Shaq is incredible.
Don't skip out on The Professor, Pete VanWeiren. Skip, Pete, and Ernie Sr. were phenomenal. After EJ Sr retired, thankfully John Sterling and Billy Sample were short lived and Don came on board. Lots of summer nights tuning in at 7:05 to WSB 750 or TBS to catch them
Ernie is awesome and Inside the NBA has been the best talking head show in American sports for the last 15-20 years. And I say that as someone who isn’t really a huge NBA fan. Those guys just go out there and clown each other and it’s awesome. Ernie has always been a great straight man to help manage all the big personalities on that set.
I still crack up when I see clips of Barkley talking about the “big ole women” in San Antonio.
I still crack up when I see clips of Barkley talking about the “big ole women” in San Antonio.
I wonder where they go from here. Ernie was the most importanr person on that show. Like you said, he was the straight man. Without him im afraid the show will be a mess. I’m not sure who you get to replace him
If ESPN is deciding this they will 17 it up.
I bet Charles Barkley will be the next to retire. I think he was close to hanging it up before they moved to ESPN.
I am glad he is not retiring but 'just cutting back' from all the various work he does.
The guy is a damn institution and it is great to hear he is going to spend more time on his health and family.
He is the best sports studio host that I can think of and I have always enjoyed his ability to balance earnestness with fun- I think he has allowed a lot of his actual personality to be seen, and it has resonated with viewers.
Those will be some big shoes to fill...bigger than Shaq's literal shoes.
I haven’t worn a bowtie since the early 90’s…..quality control on those went to shít. Windsor knot is a far superior look anyway****
(Sorry, somebody had to do it)
(Sorry, somebody had to do it)
I’m pretty sure Barkley is calling it quits pretty soon too. So yeah, it simply won’t be the same moving forward.
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