By Grady Andersen, Staff Writer

After 37 years of developing one of the greatest sports shows on air, Ernie Johnson announced that this season of “Inside the NBA” would be his last.

“I’ve long described it as a ‘get-to job.’ I’m still amazed that I get to do this for a living,” Johnson said in a post on X. “It’s been an honor to share so many nights, decades actually, at the desk with my brothers — Kenny, Charles and Shaq — and with our production crews who are so talented and devoted.”

For such a legend to leave at this juncture not only took the NBA world by storm, but sports media as a whole. At a time when sports media seems like a never-ending downward spiral towards clicks, with Pat McAfee taking his shirt off every Saturday, and local sports stations constantly under threat of being shut down, Johnson kept it real.

Love for Johnson is based both on his contributions to sports and journalism. He treats his job with care, undergoing significant preparation before going in-depth and focusing on the interesting and particular nuggets of stats to set up for his co-hosts.

He was often touted for the preparation being the best part of his job. Not only was he willing to let things go a little off the rails, but he also jumped in and made things more entertaining.

The beauty of “Inside the NBA” is that it was not a basketball show. It was a group of friends who all enjoyed talking about basketball, but also just enjoyed being around each other.

They had fun, pulled stupid pranks and made fun of each other. “Who He Play For?” always results in a good chuckle, and the egging on of Charles Barkley’s monologues about San Antonio and churros brought happiness to many.

But beyond that, they dove into serious issues and offered amazing advice. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, when there was no basketball, “Inside the NBA” hosted a show to talk about not only the murder, but police violence towards people of color as a whole.

I often times go back to a segment discussing what each of the co-hosts define as success and failure is.

It serves as a reminder that outside of a world where both myself and others idolize and have such rigid expectations, not everything has to be defined by success.

I remember watching Shaquille O’Neal crying on live TV when they did a honorary show after Kobe Bryant’s death.You truly felt like you were in the studio with them. They genuinely cared about each other, through tragedy and triumph.

Enjoying the last year of Johnson on “Inside the NBA” will be a sentimental one for all basketball fans, and the impact he has made on not only the sports world, but the general population will never be properly measured.

Charles Barkley said it best: “But the question I’m probably asked the most is, is Ernie Johnson as good a person as he seems? And I say, man, he’s better than that. So, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being our leader for all these years.”