Three decades ago, a Milwaukee, WI who made his name in sports broadcasting in Atlanta, GA took a phone call for an opportunity with Turner Sports as the host of their pregame and postgame show of their NBA coverage. Little did he know that their postgame show would become the longest running sports show that grew into one of the most watched on television by NBA fans, colleagues in the media and NBA players themselves.
Launched initially on CNN, “Inside the NBA” on Turner Network Television (TNT) marks its 30th Anniversary, which began the season in Los Angeles, CA for the start of the 2019-20 NBA season outside Staples Center for the NBA on TNT nightcap between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, which followed the New Orleans Pelicans versus Toronto Raptors.
For those 30 seasons, “Inside the NBA” has been hosted by University of Georgia grad Ernie Thorwald Johnson, Jr., who has been joined along the way by Hall of Famers in Charles Barkley and four-time NBA champion with the Lakers and Miami Heat Shaquille O’Neal and two-time NBA champion in the middle of the 1990s with the Houston Rockets Kenny “The Jet” Smith, who help grow the show into an hilarious, engaging, unpredictable hour program that transcended basketball to become a fixture in pop-culture and one of only a handful of programs to make it into the Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame.
“When I took that phone call back in 1989 and said, ‘Yeah. I would love to come work with you.’ You never know how long that’s gonna mean. And I’m sitting here looking at 30 years,” Johnson said during a six-and-a-half video montage of 30 seasons of “Inside the NBA” on Tuesday evening.
To put into context how good this show has become, there are some viewers that skip on watching the now doubleheaders Thursday nights on TNT to just watch the studio show.
In fact, some advertisers who run commercials during the postgame festivities and not during the games, where the price for that spot averaged out to $46,527, according to SQAD MediaCosts, which was not much less than spots in regular season NBA games at $48,388.
“Kia’s ‘Give It Everything brans mantra syncs perfectly with the show’s ‘Win or Go Home’ approach and we look forward to many years of continued future success,” Michael Cole, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Kia Motors America, the presenting sponsor for “Inside the NBA” the past eight years said on the shows longevity.
“Inside the NBA” today is a show that talked about basketball that combined entertainment and “Hip-Hop,” with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Drake, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Monica, and actors like Chadwick Bosman. That is how the show in such a way that it became a part of culture to where everyone watched from those in entertainment to those who do hard news.
“‘Inside the NBA’ was ground-breaking,” Kevin Frazier of “Entertainment Tonight,” said. “It caused everybody else to try and change up and loosen up.”
It did not begin that way initially. For starters, before Johnson and his great bowties became a fixture as the host, “Inside the NBA” was hosted by the likes of the late great Emmy Award winning Craig Sager, now ESPN’s Hannah Storm, Fred Hickman, Vince Cellini, now FOX Sports 1’s Tim Brando.
In his first season with Turner Sports, Johnson, who affectionately called “EJ” did sideline reporting during the NBA’s postseason, but the organization said they were going to make a change of having Johnson be the studio host of the NBA on TNT and he has never left.
The most exciting time for Turner Sports is the NBA’s postseason, which has averaged 2.3 million viewers the last five seasons because during this time because they would bring in guest for analysis from players that were not a part of the playoff action to retired Hall of Famers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to postseason award winners like Kia Rookie of the Year.
“Having people with me went from being a playoff thing to every night,” Johnson said of the shows beginning evolution. “We added an analyst.”
Those analyst included current analyst Barkley and 1993-94 Kia Rookie of the Year Chris Webber; former NBA players like Reggie Theus, who was the sideline reporter and on-air color analyst for Turner Sports in the late 1990s; Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller, current California State Los Angeles Women’s Basketball Coach, and the brother of fellow Hall of Famer and longtime color analyst for NBA on TNT Reggie Miller and former NBA coach Dick Versace.
It was not until the arrival of Smith in 1998 where “Inside the NBA” really began to take off. He did that especially early on when he worked alongside Johnson and long time NBA columnist for the New York Post Peter Vescey, who currently does analysis for NBATV.
Johnson and executive producer Tim Kiely said to each other that Smith was a “natural” on camera giving analysis of the game and putting his own spin on it.
A perfect example of this was when he said back in the strike shortened season of 1998-99 when Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman joined the O’Neal and Kobe Bryant led Lakers, “Kobe thinks he’s a bigger star than Dennis Rodman. So, it doesn’t matter if he comes to this team.”
Then there was the example of him trying to prove he can jump over a moving car when he saw at the 2011 All-Star Game in L.A. now Detroit Pistons six-time All-Star Blake Griffin win the Slam Dunk Contest after he dunked over a car.
“I just knew that if we got smart guys and let them go and took away all the conventions that make people uncomfortable like, ‘Being told what to say,’” Kiely said about bringing in the likes of Smith. “That to me is insane.”
The show “went nuclear” Kiely said in a great way when Barkley came onboard in 2000 when they had every ounce of fun with him at his expense from his weight to the a segment where they filmed a segment where Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Ernie Johnson gained entrance into the fictional “The Champions Club” and a security guard would not let Barkley in because he did win a title when he was a player.
Then there was the segment where he said back in 2000 how certain people in the media make him laugh sometimes and Johnson reminded him that he is a part of the media now. Barkley responded like we have seen him do from his playing days to now say, “But at least I’m gonna be honest,” which got a chuckle from Johnson.
Barkley has been so good in how he does his analysis that Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated called the 1993 Kia MVP the “Michael Jordan” of sports broadcasting, with his own set of rules.
Jeremy Levin, the shows coordinating producer echoed that thought by Traina by saying the “best shows” happen when Charles said about people not liking his sense of humor by saying, “turn off your damn television.”
Seven years ago, “Inside the NBA” added another Hall of Famer in O’Neal, which initially was thought to disrupt the chemistry built between Johnson, Smith, and Barkley for the 12 years that trio was together.
As Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels said of the addition of “Shaq” was a “risk.” That risk of joining both O’Neal and Barkley turned into gold.
O’Neal, according to Johnson wanted to join the show were very similar to Barkley’s that simply they enjoyed themselves. It was not pulling teeth. It was fun, entertainment mixed in with analysis where each person was doing what was natural to them.
“I can remember him saying, ‘It just looked like they have more fun at TNT,’” Johnson said of O’Neal coming on board for “Inside the NBA.”
O’Neal brought to the show a younger viewing audience through the ability to create segments where from him coming onto the set dressed as Santa Claus during the holidays to one time during the halftime report, which was presented by Sprint he tried to run to the highlight board in place of Smith and he tripped over a wire.
What made that moment really special was the internet memes from the Lance Stephenson famed blowing in the ear of four-time Kia MVP of the Lakers LeBron James to how Miller it was put together with music took it over the top.
Miller said of that moment, “Those cables put Shaq to sleep,” which was followed by JB Smoove saying, “It’s almost like the earth stopped for one second and said, ‘What was that?’”
At its core, the “Inside the NBA” we see now more than anything else is about having a good time and being able to laugh and the best example of this came in 2002 when Smith started the “Gone Fishin” segment for teams whose season concluded in from the opening-round to the Conference Finals where it would have the main players on the team to celebrities or famous folks from the city the team represents like Snoop Dogg, Jack Nicholson and famed soccer star David Beckham on a fishing boat.
The segment would begin with Johnson, O’Neal, Smith, and Barkley putting on fishing hats and taking out the rods with a faked promo for a movie “Gone Fishing” that included members of the 2012-13 Lakers squad in All-Star Dwight Howard, Hall of Famer Steve Nash and Bryant with Denzel Washington, Nicholson and Smith.”
“He doesn’t even create those. But it will tell a story about whose in the picture,” Senior Vice President of Turner Sports Tara August said.
Those segments along with former NBA players that surround Johnson are a big reason why current players and past players are big fans of “Inside the NBA” and who enjoy when Barkley, Smith, and O’Neal, along with Johnson interview them postgame, especially after playoff games. The likes of two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and two-time All-Star of the Indiana Pacers Victory Oladipo are smiling and enjoying themselves when the are in studio or when they are interviewed at the Arena via television link.
“It is unique to be able to listen to legends and guys who played the game before you,” Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal said.
“I love you all on this show man,” Hall of Famer and 2001 Kia MVP Allen Iverson said once of the show.
Perhaps the biggest key in what has made “Inside the NBA” the great show it is along with the chemistry in front and behind the camera is early on executive producer and chief content officer Craig Barry decided to not hold rehearsals for the on-air talent and make the discussions spontaneous.
As Barry put it, “We don’t produce the guys. The guys produce themselves.”
It is that kind of outside the box thinking that has made younger viewers, fellow media colleagues and even current players themselves loyal and devoted viewers of “Inside the NBA,” while also creating shows that came after them to where they do take care of the business of analyzing games and the player that play them but do not take everything so seriously.
“Watching ‘Inside the NBA’ is very much so an experience. Your watching it with everybody,” Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks said.
“I feel like I watch them I’m sitting on the couch with my friends talking trash,” longtime writer Marc J. Spears, now of ESPN’s “The Undefeated.”
“One of the greatest things about ‘Inside [the NBA]’ is that they got their crew and the left them alone,” ESPN’s Stan Verrett said.
On Tuesday night began another NBA season on TNT and with it came short recap of the prior 29 seasons of the one of the best unscripted sports shows ever in “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT. A show’s hosted for the 30th year by a man who went from wearing glasses and long ties, to a goatee to now no glasses and bowties Ernie Thorwald Johnson, Jr. who took a phone call about working for Turner Sports and has been joined on this great ride by three of the very best to ever play the game in Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley and one of the best role players to ever play in the NBA in Kenny “The Jet” Smith.
This show was more than just about the analysis of the NBA games and players. It was a show that made you laugh, be able to laugh at yourself and not take yourself so seriously.
Johnson simply said about the position he has been in, “We’re all gonna screw up and at the end of the day we’re all just like, ‘Man, what another great day to work with my brothers. And that’s what makes it special.”
Information and quotations are courtesy of 10/21/19 www.multichannel.com story, “30 Years of Hoops And Fun At TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA,’” by Jon Lafayette; 10/22/19 5:30 p.m. TNT’s “NBA Tip-Off,” presented by Autotrader with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 10/23/19 Kansas City Star story via https://www.kansascity.com/sports “TNT Made A Cool Retrospective Video To Celebrate 30th Anniversary of ‘Inside the NBA,’” by Pete Grathoff; https://www.nba.com/inside#/; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Vecsey_(sports_columnist); https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Griffin; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Barkley#Television_analyst.
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