The NBA on TNT era is almost over. On Tuesday, Adam Lefkoe signed off with an emotional goodbye. Two nights later, Ernie Johnson, the voice of the network’s NBA coverage for over 30 years, did the same.
While Inside the NBA isn’t vanishing altogether, ESPN has acquired the rights to license the show; the curtain has fallen on its legendary run under the Warner Bros. Discovery banner. With NBA broadcast rights shifting to NBC and Amazon, TNT’s iconic role in the league’s media landscape will be over after this year’s playoffs.
The network’s final regular season send-off, courtesy of Johnson, was a fitting tribute to a show that redefined sports television.
“I want to address all those folks who are watching, but also want to do that by addressing my friends,” said Johnson. “I still remember in July of 1989 walking through that front door here at The Mansion, when we didn’t have this huge campus that came into being later. And I remember walking past that and knowing this is where Ted Turner had the idea. This is where it all started, as we owe so much to him. And I also remember being told back in those days, ‘Look, you haven’t joined a sports network; you’ve joined an entertainment network that does sports.’ The result of that is that every night, we’ve had to prove ourselves — every night.
“Because we were working with the heavyweights in sports. We worked with the folks at NBC and ABC and CBS and it was like, ‘Well, prove it.’ And we did. And we do every night. That’ll never change. And one of the most gratifying things about the whole process is this: we start the NBA on TNT back then in ’89, and then we become synonymous with the league.”
You can’t talk about NBA coverage over the past few decades without talking about TNT.
“For fans out there who think NBA, they think NBA on TNT,” Johnson said. “That’s why it hurts tonight to know that’s gone after this next playoff run. That’s the business of basketball, I guess.
“But I’ll say this: there’s no time for bitterness. It’s a time for appreciation; it’s a time for gratitude. And it has been my pleasure to be one of your co-workers, one of your teammates, and a part of this family. Love you.”
The games will move on without TNT, but the standard it sets won’t be easily matched. And Johnson reminded everyone why the journey that made TNT inseparable from the NBA mattered as much as the games.