Charles Barkley is going to miss those “nerdy dad jokes” from Greg Gumbel.
Prior to the start of the first game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the CBS and TNT Sports studio crew paid tribute to Greg Gumbel. CBS opened up its Selection Show honoring the 78-year-old Gumbel, who lost his battle with cancer in December, in similar fashion. They also wore Rolling Stones apparel — Gumbel’s favorite band.
Just 15 minutes before Louisville and Creighton tipped off, the unmistakable voice of a cultural icon filled the air. The moment Mick Jagger’s vocals rang out, it was clear that a tribute was coming.
Ernie Johnson, Clark Kellogg, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Charles Barkley didn’t rush. They let the moment breathe, refusing to move the show along until they had adequately honored their friend and colleague.
“Nobody loved the Stones more than Greg Gumbel, and a year ago at this time, we were waiting on a friend to return,” Johnson began. “We knew he was missing March Madness — an event in which his name is synonymous — for personal reasons. Just after Christmas, we learned that cancer had taken his life — and we were crushed. A void was left that will never be filled. We wear his pin on our jackets, and we carry his memory in our hearts.”
The weight of the moment was palpable. Sad. Surreal. Greg Gumbel wasn’t in Ernie Johnson’s chair. And he never would be again.
“He was so good at what he did, and he was good to the people he did it with and for — you, the viewers, was who he sought to serve,” said Kellogg. “And doing that with class, with competence, with consistency, with gentleness and kindness, he lifted all of us, who had the privilege of being in the orbit of his colleagueship and friendship. And while I’m sad, I’m extremely grateful to have known Greg as a colleague, as a friend, because he made everybody not only better, but he made everybody feel good.”
That will never change.
“It is surreal. You know, we had been texting back and forth. He said, ‘I’ll see you guys next year,'” added Barkley. “And out of the blue, you get a text, and he had passed, and you’re like, ‘Woah, what just happened,’ because, obviously, he wanted to keep his sickness private. Man, it’s just sad. I’m gonna miss those nerdy dad jokes. He told five to 10 nerd jokes a day… We always said, ‘Is that funny? Or is it nerdy?’ It was both. But, man, nobody can do what he does as long as he did, unless two things: you’re talented, and people like you.
“The ability to do multiple sports, like, Ernie’s great at that. Kevin Harlan and Sean McDonough are great at that. Brian Anderson’s great at that. Greg Gumbel was great at that. There’s so many guys — if I left anyone out, I apologize. To go from sport to sport, that’s got to be incredibly hard. And he did it with such grace for so long. And like I said, you have to be talented, first and foremost, but people have to like you. And he will be missed.”
The week before Greg Gumbel passed, he was in Smith’s heart and in his head, so ‘The Jet’ texted him. Gumbel didn’t respond, and Smith was in the dark about what was going on at that time.
“Things that we take for granted. We just assume these things are going to continue forever,” Smith said. “And you walk in these hallways, he echoes through these hallways as you come through here. And so, you know, we’ve had some people retire here, we’ve had people move on to different jobs, but you could always reach back out. Now, you feel like you didn’t say enough.”
“You take for granted the ability to reach out to someone who’s instrumental in your life,” Smith added. “And sometimes you don’t even know how instrumental they’re until things like this happen. We’re going to miss him wholeheartedly, and it’s a difficult time, but we’re going to have.”
And they’re all going to have some dad jokes of their own to pepper in.