The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show w/Baron Davis: Ernie Johnson on Behind the Scenes of Inside of The NBA, ICONIC LeBron moment, & face of NBA debate

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

Broadcasting legend Ernie Johnson joins The Draymond Green Show for an exclusive look behind the scenes of Inside the NBA. He shares untold stories about working with Shaq, Chuck, and Kenny, the show’s wildest moments, and the preparation that goes into making it all happen. Plus, Ernie opens up about his unexpected Wu-Tang Clan collaboration, his journey in sports media, and the future of NBA coverage. A must-watch for basketball fans! Timeline 2:30 - Intro 5:20 - Ernie’s collab with Wu-Tang Clan 7:30 - NBA2K 11:00 - Ernie’s broadcasting journey 20:30 - Players being hesitant to be “the face of the league” 32:00 - LeBron’s 50k milestone 45:00 - Keeping Inside the NBA”on the rails 53:00 - Draymond appearing on Inside the NBA 57:00 - Heated moments on the show 1:07:00 - Are March Madness or the NBA playoffs more intense   (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) #Volume #Herd   Follow The Draymond Green Show on social media:  https://www.instagram.com/draymondshow https://x.com/DraymondShow https://www.facebook.com/people/Draym... https://www.tiktok.com/@draymondgreen...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. What's up, everybody. Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with my brother B.D. What's happening? What's up, my brother? What's going on? How do you feel? I feel great, brother.

I feel great. I'll be honest with y'all. This next guest we have, I don't know how we pulled this off. Wow. But him being one of the best human beings to work in sports. Wow. the absolute best.

He has had an impact on my career in media. He's had an impact on BD's career in media. And quite honestly, your favorite sports stars. And when I sports media stars, he's had an impact on. And even if they haven't worked with him directly, he's had an impact on, because he's shaped, he's helped shape media being a part of, the game the way it is in the NBA. And we are honored to have this next guest.

He is a six-time Sports Emmy Award winner. Hosts a 31 sports Emmy winner. Inside the NBA, a national sportscaster of the year, 2003 sports broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee. And quite honestly, someone that I think is going to actually end up in the nascent of Hall of Fame, Because of the impact that he's had on the game, and I am honored. I got to just sprinkle some ism on top of that.

You be talking about the maestro of media, the host with the most, the Nito stat for brands, the orchestrator of entertainment where sports media entertainment connects. He is the godfather of knowing how to get it done, run the show. The man, the legend. Ernie Johnson. Ernie Johnson. And how can I possibly live it? I cannot possibly live up to that introduction, fellas.

It is so good to be with you all today. Thanks for asking. Absolutely. It's an honor. We appreciate you coming on the show. This has been one that I've been looking forward to for the longest. And I know as soon as Charles, our producer mentioned, your name beat. He was like, what?

Ernie on the show, let's go. We are excited. By the way, Ernie, I recently saw a video for the Final Chamber, the Woutain Forever tour, the trailer. How did Wutane recruit you and get you narrating that video? That is amazing. That was totally

out of the blue, Gray. It was my agent Bobby Hight with the career sports and entertainment, at CSE in Atlanta. He's the guy who comes to me with all requests, speaking engagements, et cetera, et cetera. So I get this email about 10 days ago,

and he lays this out. He said, you know, Hootsang Klam would like you to voice the, this announcement of their tour. And I'm like, is this really coming to me? And I'm looking at this script, and I was saying, let's see, can I picture myself saying, old dirty bastard? And I'm like, sure, if this is what they want,

I'll be happy to do it. And so it just happened. I went into the studio when we were there to work on a Thursday night. And so I just need to record something here and knocked it out, send it on, and then about three days later, on my timeline, here it comes. It was pretty amazing. You know, but I guess, you know, Riza calls and asks, then I'm going to, who am I to say no? So, so there you go.

That's kind of how that all came about. Doing those different things like that that you've had the opportunity to do, like, what are some of the cooler ones like, you know, this Wu-Tang, but what are some of the cool things that you've come across there. It's not necessarily sports, but it's kind of sports adjacent. And sports has kind of led you to these platforms and doing these different things. What's some of the needer ones that you've done? Well, I mean, one of the things is, you know, I've been doing the NBA 2K for years and years with Kenny and Shaq,

which after a while, then you come to understand that that's how, like a lot of the younger viewers, that's how they know you. You know, it's not that they look at you and say, oh, yeah, it's, they hear my voice. And so, like, I can be in the, in the checkout line at the grocery store and say something back to the cashier. And a kid behind me says, you're the 2K guy. I said, yeah, I'm one of the 2K guys. And so it's been fun to do that and to see how that all works.

it's kind of a drain on your brain by the end of the day, you know, because you've just been sitting there for hours. And just a lot of times saying the same thing in different ways. And then when they put you in the mocap suit and it's, you know, the whole bit. So that's been a lot of fun to do because of my longevity in this business. I mean, I've been at Turner for 35 years. I actually, the thing that I enjoy the most is telling my family's story. I mean, that's, I speak to corporations all the time about the things outside of basketball, the things in my life that matter, the things that I've learned by going through adversity,

etc. And I really enjoy that so much. Just being able to share to prove to folks, look, yeah, MBA on TNT, that's what I do, but it's not who I am. And so I relish the opportunities to be able to talk to folks about getting through cancer, adoption, special needs kids, you name it. And so I kind of weave a story that way with a series of photographs. And I love those mornings, those days where I can share that. So those are the things, you know, aside from doing the NBA on TNT, those are the things to me that, you know, those are the things that matter. Those are real life.

That resonates with two and definitely resonates, you know, with me and Jay, Ernie. Basketball is life, but our life is bigger than basketball, right? Right. And who we are, this platform always gives us a great opportunity, you know, to do such. And you guys have done a great job. Well, it brings your responsibility, BD. It does. It's like if you pass that up, then you're not doing your job because just by virtue of what TNT and the NBA on TNT has met in my career, that visibility. tells the CEO somewhere,

can we get that guy to talk to our group? You know, it's like, and if you pass that up, then you're missing a boat. Mm-hmm. 1,000%. Man, it's sharing the platform, right? It's sharing the platform, being responsible.

I mean, just in your journey in T&T, I would say, as of you are watching, you would think, like, oh, you know, it's free flowing, like they can do whatever they want. Um, just one, I want to know you're a baseball guy. Right? How did you get in my basketball?

That wasn't my glove from birth. That's for sure. Yeah, when you're, but continue. Yeah, I'm okay. So I grew up a baseball guy, but, but your point is like when did the transition? Like what made you? Like, what was that jump? Okay.

So here's the deal. Um, so my dad. plays for the Milwaukee Braves back in the 50s. He's on those teams with Henry Aaron and Eddie Matthews and Warren Spawn and Lou Bredette. He's a relief pitcher. And he's, as he likes to put it or liked to put it was, you know, I was middle relief, not good enough to start, not good enough to finish. And he's, yeah, I was a middle reliever before they were cool.

you know, we got a World Series wing with Milwaukee when they beat the Yankees of 57. And, you know, I was born at 56, so I don't remember. I've just seen videos of him pitching and that kind of thing. But his career then became a broadcaster and was doing play-by-play for the Braves for 30 years when they moved to Atlanta. So that was in my blood. So that's what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a big league ball player like my dad. and that's all I play.

You know, I played that growing up. I played a little bit of hoop. Nothing above JV. I was on the bomb squad, up 30, down 30 I was in. And if you passed it to me, you weren't getting it back. I was just jacking. And at that point, too, you know, I was the guy who led the layup line because I was the smallest guy on the team.

So I'm like I'm like I'm 6-2 now. I mean, and people still, because I stand next to shack. They think I'm like five, two. But that was my basketball career. I was a baseball guy, and I actually walked on at the University of Georgia. So walked on as a freshman and was told to walk off as a sophomore. I had one year, one year wearing the red and black, man. But you know what? That freshman year, unforgettable. And look, I'm not going to get into a conversation like,

oh, it's just three players you're talking. No, look, you guys have gone to the highest level. You know what all this is about. For folks who have never been part of that, I consider myself so blessed to have that one year of being a college ball player in the SEC and hanging out with teammates, Guys who were older than I was, more mature than I was, who taught me a bunch, who kind of took me under their wing and were kind of like, we got this freshman who doesn't know anything. Let's kind of, you know, look after him and take care of him.

And I wasn't a great player. I was a backup first basement. You know, in that one year I went two for 18. That's not funny. So I went two for 18 with one career RBI. One career RBI, which came at the University of Tennessee on a Thursday afternoon in April, temperature was about 67 degrees. That's all I remember.

Took a fastball the other way, knocked in a run. It looked like it was going to be the game-winning run in a game that would give us the division in the SEC, give us the SEC East. And so I go back to take my position out there at first. And I'm saying, man, I'm going to be all over the red and black, the student newspaper, for knocking in the run that gave us the division title. And this was a team Tennessee had Rick Honey cut the long time pitching coach bigs. Conridge Holloway, who was a great quarterback for Tennessee and had like a nine million game hitting streak.

So this is a good Tennessee team, but I could just see it. I could just see the headline in the red and black. and then our shortstop made an error on it, but should have been a game-ending double-play ball, and a couple hitters later, a guy hit a grand slam and beat us. So there it went. So my heroic one career RBI went for nothing.

But again, the experience, everything that baseball, everything that sports teaches you about being a good teammate, you learn all that stuff in one year there. I will never forget it. But so that's the long story on baseball. And then, you know, I'm at Georgia and got great journalism school. My dad being a broadcaster, I'd never really thought about doing it. And I just decided to give it a try one day.

And then I discovered that, man, they're letting you into the games for free. You're getting to hang out and get a go to any game you want to go to. And so I started working at the campus radio station, then worked at a rock station. in Athens, and then finally somebody hired me for TV a year after I graduated, and I was doing the news in Macon, which was an experience. But every step along the way, I don't care what profession you're in, every step along the way provides you with such a learning ground. And there were things that happened in Macon, Georgia, then I'll never forget that still play into what I do now.

And so it just goes that way. It's like, okay, so the baseball career is over. What are you going to do? And so it was making Georgia to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Atlanta, you know, as a news reporter. And the thing that's crazy, and this is where I tell kids all the time in journalism schools, things will happen that you don't see coming that will change the entire trajectory of your career.

And for me, that was, you know, I'm in Atlanta. I'm your general assignment news reporter. I'm the guys like, on the nightbeat, Ernie Johnson, Channel 2, Action News. And we get a new news director one day whose first day on the job, I'm just filling in for a sports guy who's on vacation. I'm doing a live shot at Atlanta Stadium before a Braves game. And I come into work the next day, and his secretary comes in and says, Rabin would like to see you.

Rabin Matthews, the new news director. And I'm thinking, geez, this guy's cleaning house. He ain't wasting any time. New box, you can come in and say, okay, you know, get a box and get your stuff. You ever thought about doing sports? And I love sports, you know? And he said, I'm going to make you the new weekend sports anchor. And that changed everything.

Changed everything about my life and about my career. And so I do that for seven years, weekends for seven years at WSB in Atlanta. and then here comes Turner, comes knocking in 1989. Hey, wow. We'd love to have you over here. And I think geographically that helped because, you know, we're in Atlanta. Those guys are all watching the Atlanta stations all the time. And they're like, hey, we've got a guy right here in town who's, I think we could use.

So 35 years later, I'm sitting here talking to y'all. It's amazing. Yeah, yeah. You never know. You just never know what the next day is going to bring. That's incredible. That's an incredible story. You should watch your career.

You've been on TV since I can remember, and you're saying you took the turn of job in 1989. I think I've told you this before. I was born in 90. So. Thanks for that. I'm constantly looking for reminders about how old I mean. And there's a very well-played one right there.

I just thought I'd let you know, Ernie. We all know you sharp as a tat. 90. So, you know, we had, my birthday was yesterday, and a friend of mine bought a great bottle of wine to dinner last night. And he's like,

well, it's 89, though. It's not 90. And he's born in 89. So he got a bunch of 89 wines. He's like, it's 89.

It's not 90, but 89 is a better year anyway. I was like, it's cool, Danny. I was going to be in the 89. It's all right. That's probably a really good bottle right there. Aspd, he knows all about those wine. I'm filling it right now. Live from Navajo, Lime from Navajo.

Let's get into some NBA news. A major topic today facing the NBA, LeBron and Channing Frye discussed why players are reluctant to take the face of the league role after 35 years of covering the NBA on TNT. What is your perspective of why players would resist being the face of the league? Well, you know, we talked about this on the air the other night too about can somebody dictate who the face of the league is, or is that something you grab, you want, and you seize it?

Sometimes you can't help but be the face of the league. Sometimes that's all talent-driven, but I think it does go hand-in-hand with reputation, how you carry yourself, and these days, obviously, nothing goes unchecked from one day to the next. So you might have the talent to be the face of the league or the guy that everybody thinks of when they think, oh, NBA. Oh, I think LeBron James or NBA, I think Michael back then, that kind of thing. But I think there is some validity to that that they would say, look, I don't want that pressure.

I don't want every step I take to be scrutinized. And so, yeah, there's something to that. But I also think that for some, it'd be, I want that. I want to be that guy. I want to carry the flag for the league. And with that comes the responsibility to do right. Okay. Won't be in the headlines for the wrong thing.

That all goes, that all goes with it because you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you know, you, you know, you know, the face of the NBA. Then what happens when they slip up and do X or why? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Again, it's one of those nebulous things.

And I, and I, and I think we're always in such a hurry these days to quantify everything, that everything needs to be the best. This says, he's got to be the goat. How can he be the goat if she's a goat? You know, can, can, can we just not appreciate. Can we all get a law? Yeah, yeah. Can I not be a better human? Come on.

You know, there's just this rush. And I think part of that is, is in the media thing. And whether it's sports talk or whether it's pods or whatever it is. But if on a sports talk show you got four hours to fill, well, we're going to spend an hour talking about. Somebody just won a game last night with a three-point or at the buzzer. Is he the greatest flex shooter of all times? Well, how can he be? And we want to argue for, come on.

Just appreciate the moment. Appreciate the moment. Please. If we can do that. But apparently that's not the way things are done anymore. That is indeed true. I think you're spot on with everything you said. Do you see someone that you say, I think that's who it's going to be?

Because it's been this interesting landscape where, like, for, I feel like for the last seven years. Everyone has been trying to move on from Brun. And, you know, for the last three or four years, everybody's been trying to move on from Steph, thinking like, oh, we got it now. Like, this young guy's

coming, that young guy's coming. And it's like every year it's reverted right back to those guys, Brian, Steph, and everything they're doing. When you look around the landscape, is there someone that you see that it's like, no, I think it's going to be that person?

Yeah, I think, I mean, you look at the young guys in the league, you look at the teams that are doing well, you look at the opportunity for, what do you call it, PR, or high, let's have more visibility, then you say, well, hey, how about Luca in LA for years? Yeah. Could he become the face of the NBA? Hey, here's Shea Gilgis Alexander leading the league and score with a team that has the best record. Could he be the guy? Could Victor Wimbunyama, this freak, be the guy? You know, that we've never seen anybody that size do the things he does. Could he be that guy?

So there are a bunch of candidates out there, but the thing to remember is this isn't an election. All right? This is not. This is not like, okay, everybody have, you know, I've been a voter for years on the regular season awards. Not like you're going to add a category that says, Face of the league. Give us a... No, you know, this is not bad.

This is... Who's going to, by their play and by their character and by their... Leaders. By their persona. And they're... Yeah, exactly, BD. Who's that guy? And it's not like you apply for it.

It's just like, well, he's the face. You know what we'll see it. And so that's... I think that's the way it is. But please, let's not put this up for a vote. No, you know, that's not the way that... Who's scoring big in the NBA this season? You are all the new ways to get in on the action at Draft King's Sportsbook,

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New customers only. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio. Man, last night, Brian reached 50,000 points regular season and postseason. You obviously saw Brian come into the league. from high school and obviously become one of the greatest players, if not greatest player we've ever seen, play this game. Is there some moment with Bron that stands out with you more than others and watching his, man, what is it, 22 years now? 21?

22 years, 40 years old. That night in Detroit, or that night at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Because as a playoff night, we got the show on the road, what, 25th Street and 29 out of 30, something like that. down the stretch. And the thing that, you know, and here's the great thing about the job that I have is being able to sit around a walk to the guys I watch the guys I watch.

You know, Kenny and Shaq and Chuck. And, you know, magic's been in there for a time before that. But when you watch a performance like that, and then you glance over at these dudes, and they're all like,

then you know you've seen something special. And so I think that was the night that I'll never forget. I mean, that's, it's amazing. And again, those are one of those nights that defy description. And on another front, obviously, the fact that Space Jam and New Legacy, in that film. With LeBron, obviously.

And so, you know, and still look. I'm still, I'm still, guys disappointed that a best supporting actor nomination did not, you know, I'm figuring it's probably like when they had the NBA's 50 greatest. And I was working with Reggie Theist at the time. And Reggie said, I was number 51. So I feel like that year at the Oscars, I think there was probably. seven nominees for Best Supporting. I was eight. He was number eight. He did an excellent job.

We did an excellent job. We need more of you on the big screen. You know what? The greatest thrill about doing that was we went to a theater to see it and took the grandkids and didn't really tell them what was going on. And then all of a sudden, I pop up and they're like, poppy! That was worth every second of.

That's amazing. Last calendar year, a little before the season started, we obviously learned the fate of TNT sports and the landscape of what the media landscape will be in the NBA. Absolutely thrilled that inside the NBA won't be going away. As TNT sports will continue to produce it independently. The new edition will be that ESP, will feature the show at high-profile NBA events next season,

such as the NBA Finals, which is also a different thing for you guys. How excited are you to finally get a chance to cover the NBA Finals next season after all of these years? That's going to be a very cool part of this thing, because there's always a feeling at the end of our playoff run, and I've been fortunate, you know, I'm always part of that trophy presentation with,

you know, to the Eastern or Western Conference champions. And it's, and then you, and then all of a sudden, you go back and do the postgame show, and then it's over, and we've done all the gone fishing pictures, and it's done. I mean, it's, it's just a whole flat done. And it's, and then you go back and you watch the finals. And, and you're like, wow, it would be great to be there for that. So to be part of that next year is really cool. You know, we look forward to that.

But the biggest thing about this whole change, look, it's not easy. You know, this NBA on TNT brand has been around since before you were born, Dre. And it was, you know, we've had games on TBS or TN. for better than 40 years. And so there have been these moments this year that give you cause for reflection. I mean, I remember being in Boston for opening night and standing there and saying, wow, this is really the last year of the NBA on TNT. And I felt the same thing at All-Star Weekend.

That was our last All-Star game. Our first was 2003 in Atlanta. It looked like Michael in his last All-Star game was in the NBA. MVP and there was foul light and Kobe hit free throws and Kevin Garnett was the MVP. And, man, it's a blink. All of a sudden, we're sitting there in San Francisco and saying, this is the last one. It's the last one of these All-Star games that we're going to do. So that part's been difficult, but I'm glad that we're able to salvage the show,

even though it's not going to be on TNT, and as many times as I've tried to explain to folks how this works. It's like, huh, what? What are you talking about? You're going to keep doing the show, but it's not going to be on TNT, and it's not going to be on TNT, Well, where's it going to be? Well, when you tune into some of these nights on ABC or ESPN, the pregame show is going to be us.

We're going to still be doing it in Atlanta. We're just not going to be saying the NBA on TNT. I'll see how many, I don't know what the over-under it will be for me on times that I can speak. But, yeah, to stay together with those guys, to stay together with our production crew, that's really important. Yeah. you know, it's the, I guess, the business of basketball.

You know, these things, sometimes it happens. You know, we've been part of, you know, we had the NFL for a while, then we lost it. You know, I did the PGA championship forever. And then we, you know, when the rights were up, we didn't get it. And, you know, the British show, it happens. And we've been through it. But I'm just glad that that core, not just the guys on the air, but that whole production crew, we'll still, you know, we'll just do it.

We'll just see it in a different place. Funny story. I've had the opportunity, obviously, to work with Ernie on inside the NBA. And my first time working with the group, I get this rundown of everything that's going on. And this is during the time where everything's on Zoom, you know, and so the production meters, all these things are on Zoom. And so I log into the Zoom. I'm a new guy.

I'm not going to be late for a meeting. I log into the Zoom. I log in. looking for Shaq, looking for Chuck, looking for Kenny. The only person I see from the show is Ernie, outside of her production crew, is Ernie. And I'm like, I sit there. Ernie goes, Dremont, what the hell are you doing here? The production meeting, like, I want to miss the production meeting.

Get out of here. All right, I guess I'll log off. And I said all of that to say, Ernie, can you explain to people a day? we go live at, say, and I say we, when I'm on the show, say we start at 6.30, 6 o'clock. We'll say we go live at 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock. Can you explain to people what your day is like when you arrive at Studio J on campus and then what you're doing preparing for a day? Because I don't think people really truly understand everything that you do. like they see you obviously be the point guard and orchestrate.

They don't know everything. You explain a day to us of a 7 o'clock start time that's not end until 1.30 in the morning. Can you explain a day of Ernie Johnson to myself and the fans who love the show? Yeah, well, this answer may bore some folks. They may say, hey, you know, click that piece of that Draymond and BD podcast where Ernie's talking about his preparation because I need that for like a sleep meditation tonight. But here's the deal. It's like on those game days, say the pregame shows on at 7 o'clock, I'm in there,

I'm in there between 10 and 11 in the morning because I've also got to do the steamroom podcast with Charles, which is available wherever you get your podcasts. And I think in a way I'm like you guys. I mean, you think about in the course of an NBA season or in the course of your basketball careers, you can become a creature of habit. You can become, look, this is my game day ritual. This is my game before, you know, day before, day off ritual.

And I had the exact same thing. So there are certain things that I know I need to do. And the thing to remember about it is that my preparation for that night show has been going on all week. I keep a daily log of every game played in the league from beginning to end. So every game that's been played, I can, hey, here it is. Look, so this is, let's see, let's see. Now I'm just opening up. So that's, so there's February, this is February. So, and it's all kind of in my own shorthand for what I, for what I can, for what I can understand. So, I mean, I can look at last night,

I can look at last night's Golden State game as I go through the box scores every night. And so Buddy Heald had, it was 119, well, the Charlotte game was 119, 101, made Golden State 33 and 28. It was the Hornet's seventh straight loss. Buddy Heald had 22, Curry 21, and 10 assist, Pachemski 19, Drey had 16, 12, and 7, Butler had 13. They never trailed and led by 19. 35 and 9 for Miles Bridges on the other side. But it's those details on every game that is played. Because then I can, anytime, then when I see teams playing again,

I can refer back to that day. Okay, here's what happened in that game. So that's one of the things I do on a daily basis. And then keeping these five, on every team. So here's tomorrow night because Golden State and Brooklyn are playing tomorrow night. That's one of six games on the schedule. Neither of them play tonight. So I can get through. I've got this as the Golden State Brooklyn breakdown. And I see I update those team profiles every day. So with the Warriors. So yeah. So your last post was the 23

Western Conference semis, knocked out in the play-in in 24, 22 champs over Boston, 4-2. Your record on the road is 17 and 15, 6-1 since the break 9-1 and 1 with Jimmy Butler. You're 22 and 4 when you lead at the half. You're 7 and 1 when you allow under 100. You're 11 when you score under 100.

And I don't know, and it's overkill, fellas. But, and you go into every show realizing 95% of the stuff you got never going to make air. But on the off chance, that there is something in here that's relevant, then you've got it. And you just feel like you're into the game and you know exactly what's going on.

So that goes on all week. And so really just the finishing touches are put on on a game day. You know, I'll read articles from around the league. You know, look at the production format that Tim Kiley has put in. Okay, let's see what we need to. And then really just doing facts and that kind of thing.

And so that's it. So the preparation never ends. It's, look, doing the show is the easy part. The work is all the prep. Yeah. And so that's why, like, I mean, last night, I didn't work last night, but I worked here in my office at home because I'm flipping around from game to game. And from 930 until 1.30, I'm doing this stuff.

But that's it. And so it's not like I show up on Thursday and say, hey, what happened in the league this week? You know, it's just an ongoing process. But it's what makes me comfortable. It's not for everybody. There are a million guys out here doing what I do, and they have their own ways of doing it. But for me, that's what makes me comfortable. And what I discovered long ago is when you're comfortable and when you're prepared,

you don't get rattled. Right. Somebody can break a backboard and throw it back to the studio for 20 minutes while they fix it. Shoot, I can fill for two hours, what you need. I love that. I love that. You know, the preparation, everything going into it. And then, like you said, the show is easy, right?

Once you get to the show, it's easy. Yeah. But, like, I went, one, how fun is it? And how easy is it to keep those dudes on Garrels? Kenny, Shaq, Chuck. You both been in there with me. You know what it is. Every show is somewhere between a walk on the beach and a train wreck.

Yeah. And half the time you don't know which it's going to be until you hit the yager. And you don't, because part of the deal is, look, we all have lives. We all have some days are good and some days are a little rocky. and so you may be bringing that to the chair when you sit down. You've had a bad day, Shaqy had a bad day, and he doesn't feel like taking anything from the show. And you can tell right from the start that that's going to happen.

So really it's just kind of a feeling out process, and it's like, okay, how's this going to, is the energy good in here? Oh, geez, Shaq's on fire tonight. This is going to be a long time. Or Chuck is subdued. I don't know, Auburn lost. because of the same in. You know, so you're constantly kind of reading the room and then kind of figuring out which

direction you want to go. And it's like, it's like, I'm, people call me so many different things in that role. You know, it's, hey, he's the ringmaster. Hey, he's the point guard. He's the traffic cop. I'm actually that traffic cop who's not very good at his job because instead of trying to wave people through the intersection with no. underbenders. I'm like waving

Kenny this way, because I know Shaq is going to broad sound. And so in that way, I'm a little a little bit of a rogue traffic cop. But that's how it goes, man. And if folks at home are sitting there

saying, I have no idea what is going to happen next on this show, join the club, man. Because I got no idea either. Again, you guys have both seen it. You know, the show can go a million different directions. And sometimes you just let it go.

Yeah. And sometimes you need to try to rein the guys in and maybe, hey, okay, good. Because, you know, Chuck has a bad habit of repeating himself. You know, he'll make a point and then repeat it three more times before. And like the other night, he was doing, I said, look, man, you're just making laps on this thing. Can we stop and move on? Oh, okay. And so sometimes, I just need to let him know that I know you've just said that four times. You know, I'm not going to let you say it five times. But yeah, that's the way it goes.

It's just, it's all feel. It's like, and Tim Kiley gets a lot of credit for that too, the producer, because, you know, we'll get in my ears sometimes to say, let's move on. Or he'll say, let it go. This is good. You know, like we can continue to, if it's a really good discussion. So, but yeah, it's all feel. It's like, okay, this is trying to run its course. Well, boom, let's change, let's change direction and do something else. I've had so much fun on the show. You know, it's unlike anything that I've ever done. And I'm not sure in media that you can ever do anything else that's like, no, like, it's, I'm not sure how you can recreate it.

Like, I'm not sure, like, I don't think it can be recreated. But it's so free-flowing. but yet and still it's not just like haywire though it's not just like anything goes like it's very much so like hey we want to talk about these things and then if it goes

somewhere else great but for me to have the opportunity to be on that show with you guys and just watch and learn and to watch you guys help me you know when I'm sitting there and can't really get a word in and you're like Draymond what about this you know or you know early when I first started

you know we're on the break and Chuck's me like, hey, so what are your thoughts on NIL? And I tell him my thoughts on NIL, we come back from the break, starts talking and Chuck going, you know, Draymond has some thoughts on NAC and like just throw me alive and I go on it. And just to like have that experience in really my first experience in media and like really doing TV, I feel like it set me up so well for the future just being able to work. to stars to greats. And I just want to say thank you for helping me

move into that field, but just making it so easy for me to just go up there and speak and try to build my brand in that space. I just want to say thank you because I couldn't ask for a better experience. Gray, what's the first thing I said to you after your first show with us? I said, man, are you on a great spot?

Because I don't know how much longer you're going to play, but when it's done, you can write your ticket because everybody's going to want you. It is. It's true. And there's, look, some guys have it. You know, we knew right away Kenny had it. You know, Kenny was, you know, Kenny just had this way about him, this great, like, streetwise, you know, you can't throw me off my game.

And anyway, you asked me anything out. And he was great. And we said, oh, man, when he's done, he's got to be part of the show. And that's always been the key to any player who's tried to venture out and branch out. And a lot of times their agents are like, I'm going to try to get my guy on TV because I think, you know, this is the avenue. And there are some guys who you would see them interviewed postgame or see their personality on the floor and say, ooh, he might be really good on TV. But there's something about that red light going on.

there's something about that red light going on and suddenly the topic of conversation is this guy's is this guy's buddy what am I going to say am I going to be honest or am I going to say what my buddy wants me to say or to say about his team and there can be that oh I don't know if I want to go there to our guy's credit they have never shied away despite what you despite what players in the league might say and BD same way you know I say I talk about this you know, when Drey was on the show a few years ago for the first time. But it's the same way with you. When you're on the air with us, we're like, this guy gets him. He's just being him.

He's not like, all got to be a TV guy now. You know, it's just like, no, this is what you got, have me on the show, and this is what I am. And that's all you can ask for is somebody to be authentic and genuine and be themselves and not hold back. And for a guy like Chuck, who was the most quotable guy in the world on every, topic when he was a player who was always sought out for his opinion, he never shot away from that. And that's what makes it work. And it also goes back when you talk about the free-flowing conversation, it goes back to the fact that these guys are not in the production meeting.

Because we don't want the show laid out. So they're thinking about, well, what am I going to say about that? What am I going to say about the bucks? What am I going to say about the Clippers? What am I going to say about Kauai. It's going to come up. And what do you think? Right there. Not with, not with a bunch of, oh, I'm trying to remember what I said, and not with a rehearsed kind of, but we've seen enough shows that are so overrearced that are so rehearsed. The opinions and the things that are happening are happening like, boom, boom, boom. Yeah. Like, okay, now you're supposed to talk about, I'm supposed to talk to Hans, but now we're supposed to get to commercial. With us, it's like, like, geez, who knows how it's going to go?

How, you know, with all this stuff flying back and forth, and that's what, and I think that's why it resonates. I think that's, that gives you more that feel like you're sitting in the living room with your, with your fellas watching. Nobody's asking for permission to talk, you know, nobody's, you don't go to commercial break and say, hey, when we come back, you say this and then you say this, and then you say this. No, we're just letting it fly.

And then eventually, we got to get back to the game. And then we'll pick it up when the game's over. So that's how it works. Opinions sometimes can get heated. You know, you're talking about basketball, which is off the guys on that stage long. You go through life, you start to show at 7 o'clock. It could be 12, 15. You've been there for four and a half hours.

Well, you've been there for 13 and a half hours. But everyone else has been there for, like, call it 5, 5.5 and a half hours. You get a little grong, you get a little tired. Appian starts to class. Have there ever been moments on a set where you felt like, man, this could really lean the other way and go somewhere we really don't want it to go amongst the guys? No. And a lot of times the talk from people who watch and they've asked me this thing, you're afraid that Jack and Charles are really going to, you know, throw hands some night? And I said, no.

No. No, look, these guys are tight. Their moms were tight. Their families were tied. No, but here's the deal. They realized that everybody on that show comes at the game from a different angle. And so there are going to be, you know, Shack is going to give you the big man, I've got to give it 30 and 15.

You know, that's his solution to everything. And then Charles and Kenny will point out, look, you were Shaq. You were Shaq. You were Shaq, okay? You can do that. But not everybody is you. It doesn't matter. And so I think because of that, you can have these differences of opinion.

And a lot of times that comes down to like, you know, Shaq saying the coaching doesn't matter. You know, here's a guy who's played with some of the greatest coaches of all time. But he's saying, you know, and then you get a chuck. And man, you must have been a joy to coach. And then they saw you're going to be some furniture movement. I mean, it happens all the time. But no, I don't think that that's ever been an issue of thinking, oh, yeah, these guys are really, these guys are really mad at each other.

I mean, look, there was one time in particular. The clip has gone viral about a billion times of the, you know, the night that Charles took all of Shaq's time on a sponsored album. Oh, yeah. You know, we finally get, you know, there were 12. 25 seconds. Okay, Shaq. You know, because Charles had answered,

and then I was about to throw it to Shaq, and then Charles took it back because he had something else to add for the fourth time. And then when I get it back to Shaq, no, no, he wants to talk about it. He's going to think all the time, supposed to, you know, supposed to be one to two to three,

not one to two and back to one. Which, which when he said it was the funniest thing ever heard in my love. And I couldn't stop. And so, but what you didn't realize, he was, he was hot. He was so mad.

Shaq was running hot. He was so mad. BD. BD. This was during the playoffs. And BD, he came in the next night. He was, he was quiet. He wouldn't talk.

He was in the show. and he's just sitting here like this, staring straight ahead. And I'm having to beg him to talk. You know, and come on. Hey, big fella, come on. This is a good matchup radio. No, they don't want to fall down three and one in the series.

No, they don't. Well, he's still, he's still hot. And so, really, that's one of the, that's one of the few times I've ever seen any kind of a carryover from one show to the next where somebody, where somebody, got their feelings heard a little bit and was not going to take part in that show the next night. And I remember, I remember that pregame show ended in Shaq immediately got up and went to the green room.

And Kenny and Chuck and I had to look to each other. Uh-oh. Somebody can have to have a word with the big fella because he's carrying this around. Oh, man. That seems like great, great fun. And then I wanted to share a moment in the career that you did something unbasketball related. I remember we made burritos. We did the indie race where everybody kept calling me a getaway driver.

And Charlotte, what are some of those moments that you enjoy, you know, from the show that you guys do, you know, off campus or at. What are one of those moments? That was the one in Charlotte was really fun because we went to the drag, went to the drag strip up there and got to have those. And I'm still ticked off because I had, because I had Candace Parker beat and then something happened to my car. But we had those, we had that big race at Georgia Tech.

All of this based on Kenny running to the board all the time, you know, and by the way, he never, he never challenges Draymond on that race to the board when when Drey comes and visits us. Because Drake gets to the board in about two and a half steps. So that led to this big, we're going to have a hundred meter dash at Georgia Tech. And it's me and Weber, Chuck, Shaq, and Kenny. Again, this also probably available online somewhere, but it was, you know, everybody's Everybody's woofing. Everybody's saying why they're going to win. And it was such a bogus start.

Me, I'm an idiot who says, I'm just, I'm waiting on the gun. And I was the only going to start that hundred meters. So I immediately sat up and I say, false start, false start. And nobody listening to me. They're going. And Chuck, I mean, I know I would have beaten Chuck because he hasn't finished him. And Shaq pulls a hammy with about 20 yards to go. And he's actually winning and is coasting to the finish line. And then Weber passes him right at the line and breaks the tape. And that was the whole you've got to run through the tape thing.

But it was, again, it was one of those things where it was like, who thinks this up? You know, who pulls it off? And because we were using, this is years ago, before drones even became that big a thing. And we're looking around and these things are buzzing around. They're shooting this with drones. And it was tremendous. I just, those are the things that, those are the things that set us apart, I think.

Those are the things that's like, we'll do anything. And some of it will be great. And some of it might not be funny at all and might not work. But man, we're going to shoot our shot. And we'll see it. So I think, yeah, I think that historic 100 meter dash, that was certainly one of them. We spoke about it. You've had a long career.

Is there one thing out there? It doesn't have to be in sports or anything. Is there one thing out there that you look at it? You say, I still, I haven't done that, but I want to do that thing before I'm done. You know what? I have been able to condition myself, Raymond, to appreciate what I have. have been able to do and not what I haven't been able to do. So, no, I never given that a thought.

I never say, boy, this has been great, but I really want to do this. I have what I call a get-to job, not a got-to job. We've all seen folks at the traffic light who are driving to got-to jobs. I'm doing this because I've got to go to this. I've got a get-to job. I get to go down there and hang out with these four. or these three guys, and have been able to do that for 35 years. So I've always been focused on what I get to do, and never a regret and never a,

boy, my career could be complete if I could just do this. Uh-uh. That's not the way it works for me. You go from March Madness to the NBA playoffs. I would like to know which one is more intense, which one is more interesting, for you. The prep for March Madness is so much more than for the NBA. Look, I got this NBA thing down, you know, on a nightly basis to doing the things that I have to do and I know to get ready. But every college basketball season, it's like, hey, how many teams might make

the tournament? And that's kind of where I start. You know, it's like, I'll start really paying attention in December and just before they start getting into conference schedules and that kind of thing. And since we've been doing that for 13 years, 13, 14 years now, I have like this database on my computer where I've, you know, got profiles on probably 200 and something teams. Wow. Just because over the years, that's how many, you know, starting with that first year, it's like, geez, I got 100 teams here that might make the tournament. know, depending on all these conference tournaments.

And then it just increases. And then every year you're updating this. Okay, now it's this guy's 18th year as the head coach and their March Madness history is this. And here are their top guys. And now you add to that equation, okay, I've got to take it to the next level. Where else has this guy been?

Okay, so we transferred this year from here. But for the previous two years, he was here and before that here. And now he's playing in his eighth year in college. So that's all added to the preparation there. So that's where, again, the amount of preparation for the, compared to the length of the event, you're doing all this because in two, three weeks, it's all going to be over. It's not like an 82 game season. It's like, this thing is going to start mid-March and be over in early April. Yeah.

It requires this much work getting into it. So there's still something about that tournament, BD, to answer your question, that is something no other sport has. that I've seen. There's just that whole vibe around the tournament, which, you know, you don't have to be a sportsman to have a bracket. Right. You just, you know, that's, it's one of the great uniting things in our country is March Madness. It gets everybody together. It gets people, I don't even know if there are water coolers anymore, but if you have a water cooler in your office, that's where you would gather to talk about, wow, you really think South Dakota State can beat so, you know, that's, and, and so it would bring people together, even for a short time,

for some common ground. And, and again, and the one and done nature of that, you know, leads to these, you know, these iconic buzzer beating moments that live forever. And that's what, yeah, so that's what's really, really special about that. So, yeah, and the fact that I, you know, get to go to New York with Kenny and Chuck and Clark Kellogg up there, again, that's, that's It's so much fun. But those days, you guys have been in that NBA studio, you talk about getting in there and walking out at 2 o'clock in the morning. I mean, you're talking about games noon to one, noon to one.

Those first two days are so crazy. You're sitting around and it's like, okay, I'm doing a CBS halftime show, then I'm going to bring TNT on the air. Then we're doing a true TV halftime. And all of these are happening like, boom, boom, boom. okay, this true TV halftime is which game? Good. Okay, I've seen eight seconds of that,

but luckily Clark has a good handle on it, so we'll go to him. So it's that kind of a thing. It's nonstop, and the hours are long, but as I've always told Kenny and Chuck, when those days start getting long and we're kind of getting a little bit bleary-eyed,

look, if your boss told you at your job, hey, all I want you to do for the next four days is watch the tournament, you probably sign up for that. And that's how we're doing. And a heartbeat. I watch, I love the tournament. So I get it.

A margin lot different. Before we get out of here, we love to make a good list. Could you do your top five inside the NBA moments that you've experienced in your 35 years? Yeah. Let's see. Some of them will be, this is tough to do. But some of them will be like just clowning on the guys and that kind of thing. Probably the Champions Club ranks up there where we locked Charles out of the studio for half-time because he didn't have a ring.

Only champions could get in. I think the Kenny against Charles' diaper-changing contest where we melted a little butterfinger, microwave and put it inside the diaper and charles nearly fainted. I'd see, retiring Kenny's jersey. That was so funny. That was so funny. On the clothes line.

I would say he was so upset about that. He was still. He was hot. He was so hot. I've seen how this work. I'm getting out of here. I remember, yeah. I would think Shaq,

whether he's falling or being pushed into Christmas trees or the night that he actually got his foot wrapped around the cable and pulled the monitor out of the set. That goes up there. But here's the deal, and I'll bring it back to, I'll be real. The show I'll never forget is the one. one we did in L.A. after Kobe died. Because they canceled the game, but we went out there and did the show mid-court,

nobody in the arena, and just talked about him. And for like, Shaq, it was the first time he had a chance to talk about Kobe. You know, we bring Jerry West on, and he's balling. You know, it was the most powerful show I've ever been a part of, and it was just so real and so raw. And it was, and it just, I think it was just a demonstration of the fact that,

yeah, we can have some really ridiculous times on our show, and we can make you laugh, and you can go to work the next day and talk about, you see what those clowns did, but also they'll say, man, did you see, did you see that tribute to Kobe last night? And that was,

That's the thing. If I had to look at it right now, I'll say the thing I will never forget about that show is that night. That's incredible. I don't know how we can go past that. Such a great note to end on. I think when we look around the basketball landscape, obviously all of us are big Kobe fans.

We all miss them. So to end on that is incredible, but more importantly, Ernie, we can't thank you enough for coming on the show. sharing your stories, your backstory going all the way back to childhood, but more importantly, just sharing your energy and your life on this show. Obviously, we're all big fans of you, as we said earlier for us, both of us, to have the opportunity to work next to you and catch some of them

a sysh you be throwing out. One of the highlights of my TV, Caroo. Man, tell me about it. So I just want to say thank you for really coming on. It's been a complete honor and just hearing these stories. It's been a special one for me. I appreciate you, fellas. Thank you so much for having me on.

And I, um, no, hey, it's a get-to job, man. I'm glad I could share some of it with you. Yes, sir. Really appreciate you. Thank you. Much love, E.J. Much love. We can't wait for the next book, too.

I scripted. The first one, amazing. I can't wait. I can't wait. Wait for the next one. Yeah. I got a few. I got a few of them up here, man.

I got one for us. We know. A nursery rhyme book. Yeah. I know. Yeah, I got, you got bars. Ernie got bars, right?

He was shooting them bars at the, at the legends brus. That was, oh, man, the way he was doing the intros, that's called. We need a whole children's book. Ernie bars.

BD, you and me, I would love to do that. You know it. I would love. count me in. I'll get to working. I got you. I just for 2% Asian fee.

I feel like I brokered that. All right, man, you already know. You're the mom. He's growing up at an all-star weekend, Jimmy.

Just a hair link, dude. Drake's executive producer. Yeah, yeah. All right, fellas, thank you. All right,

all right. Thank you so much, Big Doug. I appreciate you. The go. Good luck down the stretch, man. Thank you. Really appreciate.

I'll see you soon. Yeah, you got it. And it's been, hey, great being your teammates, both of you. Thank you. Thank you for having you on. And that's been the great thing about that show, man. Getting to meet folks like you. Appreciate you.

Oh, man. Likewise. Thank you. It's honor to be a part of it. Right. Be good. All right, Arnie. The volume.