The end of an era is finally here as the longtime host of ‘Inside The NBA,’ Ernie Johnson, announced his decision to step down from his current role. Although he did not officially say he was retired, he will not be involved as much and certainly won’t continue to host the show. While his announcement leaves questions as to what will happen to award-winning show, Johnson is hoping it continues even after his depature.
“I have no idea, and I don’t want to be blamed for ending ‘Inside The NBA.’ In my role, I’m stepping away from my role on there. I would hope that they could continue the show in some form,” Johnson said during a recent segment with Front Office Sports. “There are plenty of great studio hosts out there who could do what I do.”
Ernie Johnson also touched briefly on the potential departure of Charles Barkley from ‘Inside The NBA’ in saying that he doesn’t know what the future holds for the NBA Hall of Famer and that he’ll leave it up to Barkley to have the final word on that. Barkley has said in the past that he would retire as well when Johnson did so.
This is the second season that ‘Inside The NBA’ has been broadcast on ESPN following the league’s restructuring of their media rights deals. Prior to that, the show had aired on TNT Sports since 1989. Johnson joined the show in 1990 and has been in his role as host ever since.
During his tenure, alongside Barkley, Kenny Smith and later Shaquille O’Neal, the show has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards, and Johnson and Barkley have each won individual awards.
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