Ernie Johnson has seen many iconic moments in 34 years as host of “Inside the NBA.”
However, nothing might top doing the postgame show Wednesday night from center court at Madison Square Garden after the New York Knicks made the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history to beat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4.
“That’s the best. None of the fans are leaving. They just want to soak this whole thing in. It was like a college atmosphere. And then to do the show
right there with that energy going on, that’s why you do it,” Johnson said.
Who knows how many signature moments are left in the series, but the quartet of Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith is certainly enjoying anchoring pregame, halftime and postgame NBA Finals coverage for the first time.
“Inside the NBA” moved to ESPN and ABC this season under a licensing agreement with TNT Sports, following Warner Bros. Discovery’s inability to retain NBA rights.
The show’s addition has elevated ESPN and ABC’s NBA coverage just as Joe Buck and Troy Aikman’s arrival in 2022 took “Monday Night Football” to another level.
The series resumes Saturday night in San Antonio with the Knicks one win away from their first NBA title since 1973. Johnson will present the Lawrence O’Brien trophy at the end of the finals. If the Spurs stave off elimination, Johnson presenting the trophy to the Knicks at home after a Game 6 win on Tuesday could surpass the bedlam from the comeback.
“The transition has been seamless, and it’s been a wonderful year together. Having Ernie, Chuck, Shaq and Kenny anchor our NBA Finals coverage, in tandem with our outstanding game broadcast team, has elevated our entire presentation,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content.
“Inside the NBA” has a 90-minute pregame show, with the first hour on ESPN before shifting over to ABC. The postgame show begins on ESPN as soon as ABC's coverage ends and goes at least an hour.
Mike Breen, who is calling his record 21st finals, has enjoyed having “Inside the NBA” serve as a lead-in to coverage.
“They’re must-see TV even after all these years. They have so much fun, and because of their status in the league, what they say really matters,” Breen said. “And then you have somebody like Ernie Johnson who runs the whole thing. I don’t know if there’s another person in our industry I respect more.”
Because TNT didn’t have the NBA Finals, “Inside the NBA”‘s season would end at the conference finals. Johnson said it felt different when he arrived at the arena in San Antonio before Game 1 on June 3.
“I haven’t felt like that on a game day in a long time. I was excited to be there and heading to the arena. I left earlier than planned because I didn’t want to sit around anymore,” he said. “Doing that in San Antonio and then going to New York to be in the middle of that scene was so cool. I think we are trying to make our show match the energy in the building. And I think we did that.”
“Everybody’s swinging by and shaking hands and patting us on the back. It’s surreal. We’re honored to be part of this. And it’s just been an amazing series.”
What also makes it special is that this is also the first NBA Finals for most of the show’s production crew, many of whom have been with “Inside the NBA” since the start.
Even though “Inside the NBA” airs on ESPN and ABC, TNT Sports still produces the show from Atlanta. It’s still irreverent at times and isn’t afraid to pull punches — as evidenced by Barkley’s criticism of the Spurs after Game 4, where he called them “the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization.”
Barkley added, “When you blow a 29-point lead, the other team has to help you. The San Antonio Spurs helped the New York Knicks win this game by doing some of the stupid-ass stuff I’ve seen on a basketball court.”
For those who worried that the show wouldn’t be the same on ESPN, those fears have gone out the window throughout the season. ESPN even bought into some of the show’s humor by doing an ad with Johnson singing a song by DMX.
“There was never a ‘Hey, you guys can’t do that anymore.’ It was just ‘No, do your thing.’ And we’ve had the freedom to do that,” Johnson said. “The great thing is we have access to all these ESPN resources with pregame pieces and reporters. It's been a great deal for everybody involved.”
Wednesday night’s comeback averaged 20.9 million viewers and peaked at 23.2 million for the conclusion. According to Nielsen, it was the most-viewed Game 4 since ABC started showing the finals in 2003.
The series is averaging 19.6 million viewers, a 116% jump from last year’s matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. It is on pace to be the most-watched series since 1998, when the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in six games.
The Game 3 pregame averaged 9.9 million viewers, a record
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