Well, this is a massive bummer.
The 2026-27 NBA regular season’s first week-and-change has already been beset by a flood of long-term injuries to massive stars (Jalen Williams, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese Haliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Duren, and Paolo Banchero) and role players alike (Cason Wallace, Ariel Hukporti, and Jalen Suggs). Per NBA stats wunderkind Keerthika Uthayakumar, roughly 15 percent of the league is dealing with an injury or illness.
Now, the league’s best studio show will be changing forever.
37-year Inside the NBA studio host Ernie Johnson announced that he would be stepping away from the action for good after the season. It’s a devastating blow to the NBA’s media presence.
“Now as the years have gone by — and I turned 70 this last summer — folks have asked me: so how long are you going to keep doing Inside? Well, I want to take a couple of minutes of your time to answer that. This will be my last season. Totally my decision. It’s just time,” Johnson said. “It’s been an honor to share so many nights — decades, actually — on the desk with my brothers, Kenny, Charles, and Shaq, and with our production crews who are so talented and devoted. And I so appreciate the leadership at TNT and ESPN for allowing this show to continue.
“So why now? Total honesty here. I’ve always prided myself on my preparation, the hours I put in every day getting ready for the next show. I’ve always loved that part of my job, but I’ve always vowed that if that ever became more of a challenge than it is a joy, then I’ll know it’s time to step away,” Johnson explained. “And now after 37 seasons, it’s time. And there’s something else, and I’ll just call it a contributing factor. For nearly two years now, I’ve dealt with heart issues. Had bypass surgery 14 months ago. Still trying to get this thing to beat exactly the way it should. And we’re getting there, I mean, I feel great… Here’s the deal: going through that has made me treasure even more every second with my amazing wife of 44 years, Cheryl Anne, and being ‘Poppy’ to our five grandchildren.”
It’s time.??????? pic.twitter.com/h1qNwsnkUY
— Ernie Johnson (@TurnerSportsEJ) October 28, 2026If the Worldwide Leader replaces EJ with Stephen A. Smith or Pat McAfee next season, we riot.
Inside the NBA has been on in some form since 1989, with Johnson manning the desk since 1990. Former North Carolina and Houston Rockets point guard Kenny Smith joined him on a permanent basis starting in 1998, Hall of Fame power forward Charles Barkley came aboard in 2000, and Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal joined the club in 2011.
The broadcast originated on TNT. It hopped to ABC/ESPN after TNT’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery walked away from media rights negotiations, allowing Disney (ABC/ESPN’s parent company) to take over in 2025.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns celebrates with the Larry O’Brien championship trophy while being interviewed by broadcaster Ernie Johnson.Ernie Johnson’s Incredible Basketball Legacy Isn’t Quite Ending
Although Ernie is stepping away from ESPN and Inside the NBA, he revealed that he is actually not retiring. He’ll continue with his March Madness CBS duties and teased some other projects.
Really, the big change is just the removal of Inside the NBA from his portfolio.
“Just to be clear, I’m not retiring, just cutting back. I’ll still do March Madness and other projects with TNT and CBS,” Johnson said, notably omitting ESPN. “And I’ve just started a new production company called 32 Bowties, geared toward telling feel-good stories in sports. So this is by no means the end, it’s just the turning of the page. And I’ll forever cherish every chapter we have written with Inside the NBA.”
Doing some generous reading between the lines here, it does seem like Johnson wanted to be on hand to help facilitate the best Inside the NBA’s transition from TNT to ESPN alongside his comrades. It’s the best NBA show in the game, after all, and remains must-watch TV as long as its core four is around.
It sounds like we’ve got until the end of the Finals to enjoy the best show in the game.
Hall of Fame player-turned-Emmy-winning broadcaster Charles Barkley.With Ernie Johnson Leaving ‘Inside,’ Is Charles Barkley Next?
Charles Barkley, the MVP of Inside the NBA, has long threatened to leave the show. During a podcast interview with The Ringer‘s Bill Simmons ahead of the 2026-27 regular season, Barkley basically forecast that Johnson would depart after the year — and, given that he wouldn’t do the show without Johnson, that he would follow.
According to Barkley, he was set to leave ahead of the 2025-26 season — but Johnson convinced him to stick around two more years.
“I said: ‘I love you, man. You’re the best. I’ll stay,’” Barkley said. “So right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year, 100 percent.”
Barkley has parlayed a Hall of Fame playing career into one of the most beloved broadcasting runs this century. His self-effacing humor, his natural chemistry with his colleagues, and his honest analysis have made him pretty essential viewing to any dedicated hoops head’s media diet.
Although Barkley is an NBA expert, he does struggle to consistently keep tabs on the league’s more journeyman players. Johnson and co. have exploited that reality to great effect with the hilarious recurring segment “Who He Play For?” And ESPN kicked off this season with probably the segment’s best-ever episode.
I mean, just an all-time TV segment. Making Chuck do Who He Play For multiple times in a row with the same players is a brilliant idea and I was legit crying laughing by the end, my god. pic.twitter.com/VZXWyGRrWa
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) October 23, 2026Johnson and Barkley’s podcast, The Steam Room, hasn’t released a new episode since April 2026. Could they circle back to that if both ditch Inside the NBA, so that fans have another platform to see the two of them together? Will Barkley stay at CBS for March Madness coverage beyond this season?
Since Johnson, Barkley, and Smith’s tenure together, Inside the NBA itself has won a whopping 19 Sports Emmy Awards. Solo, Johnson has claimed eight for his work as the program’s studio host, while Barkley has earned six as a studio analyst. Both nabbed their most recent honors just last year.
So when will Chicago Bulls fans get to directly experience full Inside the NBA coverage for our team this season? We’re only getting a single ESPN game. Our tilt against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 20 will be our lone ESPN-broadcast contest. Unfortunately, Inside the NBA won’t be a part of it. We’ll get ESPN’s NBA B-team.
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