OverDrive - Johnson on the Inside the NBA legacy, the shift of networks and the playoff matchups

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

NBA on TNT Host Ernie Johnson to discuss what the Inside the NBA and NBA on TNT has meant to him, the crew and the viewers, how the new version of the show might look next year on ABC and ESPN, the Thunder's elite season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's superstar level, potential matchups for the finals and more.

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How you doing Ernie? If I had a tail it'd be wagging. How are y'all doing? We're doing great man. We're doing great. I mean you don't have a dog in the fight necessarily But are you rooting for that series in the East to continue and the Knicks to win game five or what? Yeah, you know What's great for us is a compelling competitive series? That's all we want Nobody's rooting for anybody to do anything, but man we've gotten it so far I mean when you when you look at

being four games deep and and the biggest margin has been nine and that was last night in the game that was still close down the down to the wire. Yeah this is all we could ask for so I've always found that things are going to work out the way they're supposed to work out and if it's supposed to be a five game series that'll be it and if we're supposed to be going back and forth, you know The way this one's been I'd take a best of nine to tell you the truth Ernie we were talking about the possibilities of an OKC or the likelihood OKC Indy small markets Like ex-excluding TV execs like is that good for the game? Where do you where do you stand on that potential

matchup as far as the markets? You know what I think basketball fans will watch, you know if you're truly a fan of the game and you've been watching the NBA all year, it doesn't matter who makes the finals, you're going to watch the finals. I think where it comes in possibly is with the Fringe fans who are like, I really don't know Indiana and OKC that well and maybe they're not going to be dying to watch the series. But that's the way it works. And obviously, look, when you've got New York involved, that brings us so many eyeballs

to the set. And that's what we've got going on right now with the nix and the pacer so whatever way it turns out the diehards are gonna watch uh... are gonna watch the finals uh... and obviously you know tv execs we don't

we don't have anything to do with the finals but certainly tv execs would love to see uh... you know the bigger market teams, but what are you going to do? That's it. The ball goes up in the air and everyone's allowed to play and everyone's allowed to try and win. I would suggest if you're a TV executive or otherwise, you better buckle up because this Oklahoma City team, they're not going anywhere.

I don't think this is a one and done scenario. We saw you guys on the panel last night talking about the face of the league conversation, which has picked up a lot of steam. It is strange for us as Canadians, like Steve Nash, two-time MVP, great player, was never within reach of face of the NBA territory. That wasn't happening with Kobe and LeBron and Shaq and all those guys still playing. This is realistic for Shea. Shea is this young, he's this good,

he's the best player on the best team and I think that'll continue for a long time. How do you perceive that as an American, as somewhat of an NBA historian? The idea that a Canadian like Shea could be the face of the NBA. Sure, I mean, and I think that's such a nebulous term and it's hard to define.

It's hard to define like most valuable. You know, that's like, you know, does that mean the best player? Does it mean the guy who's most valuable to its franchise? And certainly SGA deserved the MVP. But when it comes to the face of the league, I mean, it's got to be somebody who's got the skill. It's got to be, I mean, there are a lot of things that go in the mix. It's personality.

It's you know, what impresses me about him, his maturity impresses me. He's like a 26 year old player. But every time you listen to him in a post-game setting, it's always it's all about winning and it's all about teammates and it's not about hey yeah look what I did they check the box score I had another 39 30-point games this year and but it's always about that we didn't win the game or yeah we won the game yeah I didn't have a I didn't have big numbers but we won the game and I love that attitude and so he has to me he has the ingredients of it being a face in the league.

And another factor in that is you keep your nose clean. We don't hear anything about Shea Gilder's Alexander that's off the court that's like oh man I don't know about this guy. He's got it all and wouldn't surprise me a bit to see him take on that mantle with you know given some of the guys who were in the league now I know Anthony Edwards says he doesn't want it yeah it's like but no I think again I think he has those qualities that could do that if he's able to sustain this kind of this kind of level of performance

with ernie johnson and and what i find intriguing about this conversation i think it's worthy of having we've had a before is that lebron is still playing and still the biggest market on the biggest team with the lakers and i like what do you what do you think lebron would be thinking of all this that we're we're moving past him with this conversation yet he's still playing. Well we haven't we haven't moved I'm saying that this guy like Shea is in position to

be right I'm not I'm not taking that you know that crown off off LeBron at this point he's still in the league he's still the guy when you think of the NBA he's still the he's still the face that you see so um no but I I think we're all kind of posturing that way because you know we don't think that LeBron at 50 is going to be right you know putting triple doubles up and that kind of thing but yeah i think until until the bronzes yeah that's it he's the guy speaking of the bronx uh...

you know you've been around the game a long time the lucca trade to the lakers how big uh... as far as on the richter scale did that surprise you and and everybody around the the league well it was a it was taking the meter on the Richter scale and going off, it was breaking Richter scales when that happened. Nobody saw it, nobody saw it coming. And now we'll see how it pays off

and where they go from here. And we'll see if on the Dallas side, if having Anthony Davis and having presumably Cooper flag as a number one pick and getting Kyrie Irving back you know Dallas might Dallas might be in a better position to win a title than the Lakers are with Luca who knows but no it was a that was a monster deal and and then to see the maps get the number one pick was just you can't make this stuff up guys I mean how does that happen it was not like oh yeah they had the best they had the best

chance again and all they were what 1.8% yep yeah they leaped over a lot of a they had the best they had the best chance of getting another word what one point eight percent yet they leave over a lot of lot of things that make it all yeah as a lot of that a lot of that going around these days uh... with ernie johnson of uh... inside the nba nba tn t so uh... you know there's been a lot of discussion about about you guys you and kenny and charles and shack for the last couple of years about where this is gonna go and you know the NBA TNT I believe has been around for 36 years and you know it you could be

walking into your final game of the garden you know for game five you know working at TNT and being you know the most esteemed panel maybe in pro sports over the last 30 plus years. You've been at the forefront of it all, Ernie. When someone asks you, what's it been like to be a part of this, how do you answer that? It's been special. I mean, not to be simplistic about it but it has. It's been, you know, when you're in this business you never know how long you're going to last at any place. You're like, I start out in

local news, my first TV job. I'm anchoring the news in Macon, Georgia and I would seriously doubt that any of you guys have been there. So it's in the middle of the state and I'm in a small market and I'm anchoring the news for a middle of the state, and I'm in a small market, and I'm anchoring the news for a year and a half, and then I'm in Spartanburg, South Carolina for a year as a news reporter, and then I go to Atlanta, and I go to WSB, which was a big market station, for seven, eight years before the folks at Turner called.

And so, like the longest I'd been at a place is seven years and I said, I don't know if I'll be at a place that long again and now 35 years later I'm still sitting in that chair. And so to think of the NBA on TNT not being a thing anymore is sad, it really is, because we've become, as a network, so anonymous with the NBA. The good part about it is the fact

that the four of us are gonna stay together. And we are going to do the show, and it's just gonna air somewhere else. And I know when I talk to fans about it, they're still kinda like, what are you talking about? You're gonna still do the show in Atlanta, but it's not gonna it's not going to be on t and i's no it's not going to be on tnt we've lost the rights to the nba but um with this arrangement they've made it'll air on abc or espn or some combination thereof and um and we've got the same producer tim kiley

we've got the same studio crew so we'll all still be together it's just gonna air in a different place and so we say goodbye to the NBA on TNT when this series ends and yeah I don't know when that's gonna be could be tomorrow could be as you plan i could be tomorrow night at the guard c and then move on from there you mentioned the the confusion at times of like okay where houses working espn abc i gotta admit we've all fallen victim to that because we're like so are we are we doing

like pre games and and post games and intermission stuff like what what is this gonna look like you give us more of a kind of an idea of where this is going I wish I could the confusion is not limited to y'all there's still you know how long are the pre games gonna be how long is the postgame gonna be when it when it's airing out on where they are. So I don't know. We're ready to do whatever is required of us but it's I think the most important thing for us was to maintain control of the way the show is put on. We did not want to say oh oh yeah, we'll go and somebody else can do what they want with the four of us. No, we were not going to do that. We were going to do this on the

condition that we produce it, it's our folks, it's the same show we've always had, the four of us. And that was very important to us and very important that our studio crew be you know still intact. I know some of our folks have already have already signed on to go to you know NBC or Amazon and and that's on the production side and the talent side and especially with the talent side because there are no games to do so you know Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller etc you know are gonna go do it somewhere else and we've had a producer on on our podcast that Charles and I do the steam room who has taken a job at Amazon he's gonna produce the studio there and

and we're thrilled for him. And so those are just some of the dynamics at work and we just want it to be our show just airing at a different place. Well I could tell you we admire that greatly. I mean the three of us we've been doing the show for over a decade now and it's been a great ride and I think we can speak to it kinda like you are as well i mean you really did develop this brotherhood and uh... you guys are on unbelievable show that everyone in myers everyone loves

and it's great to see that it's going to continue in some capacity at some point will find out exactly what that's going to look like but uh... enjoy it while the right way we may all work with the final find out at the same time exactly what's what's racing for but uh... enjoy the garden tomorrow But enjoy it while the ride continues. We may all find out at the same time. Exactly. We're bracing for it. But enjoy the garden tomorrow night.

Thank you for doing this. No, it's my pleasure. Are you and I out of time right now? No, you got time. Can I just say one? Please do. Can I tell you one more thing? It's awesome.

So, we've been on the road for a while and don't know when I'm getting home but I go down to the lobby of the hotel today and who shows up but my daughter and two of my grandkids who flew up from Atlanta to New York to surprise me and it's the greatest thing in the world and so they're sitting right here listening to this thing and I'm like, come here, Kate. Yeah, let's see it. Get a little shot. Hey! Say hello to our friends in Canada. Yeah, this is Katie and Amy, come on over here.

And Amy's here too. And there and and so this is this is the real stuff fellas this is shopping now well oh that's right thank you guys thank you for having me on it's always great talking to you and soon as I know what's going on you'll be the first to know we can't wait we always love having you on enjoy New York and the family Up there as well. Thanks Ernie. Appreciate it No, thank you guys. I appreciate you. There is Ernie Johnson of the NBA on TNT. That's a good surprise There's shake that thing miss. Can I can I hey?

I'm Ruby Carr host of the podcast on core this week is the story behind Sean Paul's get busy You know the song that gives you the feeling of the best bassman party you've ever been to? Oh, I have kids out there that feel like, yo, I've been to that party, I've been there, that's me. Did you know that the video was shot in suburban Ontario? They specifically wanted the vibes of a hot party in the cold Canadian winter. It's the story behind Sean Paul's Get Busy, this week on Encore.

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