The guy who kept Shaq and Charles Barkley in line on TV for 37 years used to spend his mornings shaving and dressing his son, who could barely move and breathed through a ventilator. Then he'd go to work and laugh with those guys all night like nothing was going on.
Tonight Ernie Johnson said this season will be his last, and Barkley tried to thank him on air and couldn't get the words out.
I don't think most people watching that clip know what Ernie was carrying all those years.
He and his wife Cheryl adopted Michael from an orphanage outside Bucharest in 1991, when he was 3. He had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and doctors didn't think he'd make it to his 20s. He lived to 33. When Ernie was home, getting Michael ready in the morning could take an hour and a half, and Ernie did the showering and shaving and dressing himself.
In 2006 he told viewers he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and by the end of October he was back at the desk while he was still going through chemo.
When Michael died in 2021, Ernie wasn't on the show that week, and Shaq, Kenny and Chuck spent about six minutes trying to hold it together while they talked about a kid most of America never met.
Then last year he had heart bypass surgery, and this summer he turned 70.
Ernie's dad pitched in the big leagues and then called Braves games for decades, and he gave his son a rule Ernie's talked about forever: if somebody spikes you at second base, never rub.
If you've ever wondered why nobody's been able to copy Inside, that rule is a big part of it. Barkley could say the dumbest thing imaginable, Shaq could fall out of his chair, Kenny could go running to the big board, and Ernie would just pick it up and bring it back to basketball with that yellow legal pad. Those three got to be chaos because the guy in the middle never made his own stuff the show.
He still calls hosting a "get-to job," and he was calling it that the same year he buried his son.
So when Charles Barkley, who's roasted pretty much everybody alive on live TV, can't finish a sentence to the man, that's why.
Charles Barkley and the guys give Ernie Johnson his flowers. This is a must watch.
(via @ohnohedidnt24)
Oct 29, 2026 · 5:06 AM UTC
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aibyaakash.com
Wow. Thank you for this post. I never knew anything about him, except I really liked him on the show. What an incredible person. ❤️🙏🏻
You remember he spontaneously gave away his own 2015 Sports Emmy Award live on stage to the daughters of his late rival and friend Stuart Scott?
Have a short read about The Career Journey of Ernie Johnson Jr.
Cheers 🥂 🙂
DID YOU KNOW??
Legendary broadcaster Ernie Johnson spontaneously gave away his own 2015 Sports Emmy Award live on stage to the daughters of his late rival and friend Stuart Scott, calling the ESPN anchor up posthumously before surrendering his trophy because he felt Scott deserved it more.
When Johnson was announced as the winner for Best Studio Host at the 36th Annual Sports Emmy Awards, he took the stage to accept the honour. However, the award came just four months after the tragic death of ESPN's Stuart Scott from cancer. Having battled Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma himself, Johnson felt a deep connection to Scott’s courage and legacy.
Instead of delivering a standard acceptance speech, Johnson called Scott’s teenage daughters, Sydni and Taelor, up to the stage. Before a stunned audience of broadcasting executives and peers, Johnson handed them his newly awarded statue, declaring, "This belongs to Stuart Scott.
This is your Emmy". He then requested that the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences engrave Scott's name on the trophy instead of his own, cementing one of the most selfless gestures in television history. Walk with me 👇🏾👇🏾
The Career Journey of Ernie Johnson Jr.:
How a former local sports reporter became the beloved anchor of sports television's most iconic studio show:
1. Joining Turner Sports
1989
Ernie Johnson joins Turner Sports, initially serving as a general news and sports reporter before taking over studio hosting duties for Inside the NBA.
2. Assembling the Legendary Panel
1998–2011
Johnson masterfully anchors Inside the NBA as Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal join the desk, creating television's most celebrated studio dynamic.
3. Health Battle & Triumphant Return
2003–2006
Diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Johnson continues working through treatment and returns full-time after receiving treatment, earning nationwide respect.
4. Hall of Fame & Legacy
2023–Present
Inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Johnson continues to steer sports coverage across basketball and MLB while inspiring fans off the court.
More Surprising Facts About Ernie Johnson:
A. The Black Masters Champion: Johnson hosts a famed annual recreational golf tournament for his Inside the NBA colleagues called "The Black Masters," which he famously won in 2018 to the friendly chagrin of Charles Barkley.
B. Famous Father: His father, Ernie Johnson Sr., was a Major League Baseball pitcher who won the 1957 World Series with the Milwaukee Braves before becoming a renowned Braves play-by-play announcer.
C. Master of Unscripted Chaos: Despite holding a quiet, diplomatic presence on set, Johnson intentionally lets chaos unfold on Inside the NBA, once remarking that every episode he anchors feels "somewhere between a walk on the beach and a train wreck".
SUMMARILY!
Ernie Johnson proved why he is one of broadcasting's most revered figures when he selflessly gave his 2015 Sports Emmy Award to the daughters of the late Stuart Scott.
Hopefully you've learnt something new today?
The Medic Who Writes™🌚
Cheers 🥂 🙂
