TNT’s long history of airing the NBA came to an end (at least for now) Saturday night. While Inside The NBA is moving to ESPN next season (including with the four on-air cast members and many behind-the-scenes staffers, as it will continue to originate from TNT Sports’ Atlanta studios), the final game on TNT’s airwaves still marked the end of an era. That led to significant tributes from its cast following the Indiana Pacers’ series-clinching win over the New York Knicks, including a particularly notable closing one from host Ernie Johnson:
Ernie Johnson with an emotional sign-off from ‘Inside the NBA’ on TNT. 🏀📺🎙️❤️ #NBA pic.twitter.com/bQnGdPvtOe
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 1, 2025
Johnson’s comments came after remarks from analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, which looked back at NBA on TNT history, recognized the people they’d worked with, and set a message about the impact they hope to make with the show on ESPN. It also immediately followed one from Charles Barkley, who struck a notedly conciliatory tone towards ESPN that differed from some of his previous remarks. But Johnson’s lines here stood out for summing up the show’s history and what it has particularly meant to him, including in what he says starting at 0:37:
“Gratitude is the operative word for me. You know, since 1989, I’ve been with this company. No matter what you call the company, it will always be Turner. And I’m grateful that I’ve worked with you guys, and I’m grateful for all the relationships we’ve built professionally and personally through the years. You just don’t realize that until you see people on the road and say ‘Hey, this is probably going to be it, and I’m grateful for all the good times we had.’
“So I’m grateful for that, and I’m also grateful that we have members of our crew that are going to go work at NBC, or work at Amazon. And you know how they got those jobs? Because their resume says NBA on TNT. So thank you. We have been honored to do this.
“And we look forward. As you’ve already heard, the four of us are going to be together. Our production crew is going to be together. It’s still going to be that same bunch, we’re still shooting the show in Atlanta, it’s just going to air somewhere else. And the craziness that you’ve seen, the nonsense and the foolishness and all the top-notch basketball analysis, all that stuff’s going to be on.
“It’s going to be on ESPN or ABC next year, not TNT. For that, we’re sad, but I’m proud to say for the last time, thanks for watching us, the NBA on TNT.”
As Johnson noted, the particular Inside The NBA show will continue. And that may spark some questioning of tributes like this, especially after Inside The NBA already did a lengthy eulogy for itself (which drew some flak) during this year’s All-Star Game. But the overall end of the NBA on TNT (and particularly the game broadcasts) is notable given its history. And Johnson did a good job of drawing attention to that (and to the colleagues who will be moving on elsewhere, including the game crew of Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy, and Allie LaForce, who offered their own sign-offs earlier) here.
The NBA has been crucial to the history of TNT, and to its overall company (known by names ranging from Turner to WarnerMedia, and now Warner Bros. Discovery). Sister network TBS carried NBA games from 1984-2002, and TNT itself carried the NBA from 1989 (only a year after its launch) to now. Johnson joined the company that year and began hosting Inside The NBA the next year, and he’s been crucial to their NBA coverage and the mark its made. So he was certainly the ideal voice to offer this final salute.