Ernie Johnson is stepping away from the desk that made him a household name. The Milwaukee native announced Wednesday that the 2026-27 season of Inside the NBA will be his last, closing out a 37-year run on the broadcast that turned him into one of the most recognizable voices in sports television.
Johnson, 70, was clear that nobody pushed him out the door. As reported by USA Today, he said, “This will be my last season. Totally my decision. It’s just time.” He confirmed the 2026-27 season, which began last week, marks his 37th year with the show.
Johnson was quick to shut down any assumption that this means a full exit from broadcasting. “Just to be clear, I’m not retiring, just cutting back,” he said, according to the same USA Today report, adding that he plans to keep hosting March Madness and continue other projects for TNT and CBS.
Health Scare and Family Time Factored Into the Timing
Johnson pointed to a stretch of health challenges as part of what led him here. “For nearly two years, I’ve dealt with hard issues, had bypass surgery 14 months ago,” he said, per USA Today. Still, he insisted his medical team isn’t the one calling time on his career. “I mean, I feel great. So this isn’t a case where my doctor said: ‘You need to stop working,’” Johnson said.
He also wants more time with the people closest to him, saying he hopes to slow down and savor moments with family. Beyond the broadcast booth, Johnson has been building something new: a production company called 32 Bowties, which he describes as geared toward telling feel-good stories in sports, according to CBS Sports.
A Milwaukee Kid Who Never Lost the Hometown Ties
Long before he was trading barbs with Charles Barkley on national television, Johnson was a Milwaukee kid. He was born and raised in the city’s Enderis Park neighborhood until he was 8 years old, according to Radio Milwaukee. That hometown connection resurfaced in 2019, when Johnson, Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal held a barbecue at his childhood home while the crew was in town covering the Milwaukee Bucks playoffs, the same report notes.
Johnson has described Barkley, O’Neal and fellow host Kenny Smith as his brothers, a bond built over decades of nightly television. He thanked viewers for their loyalty, love and support in his announcement, and praised the production crews who have built the show alongside him, framing the hosting role as what he’s called a get-to job rather than a have-to job.
What Comes Next for the Show
Johnson credited leadership at TNT and ESPN for allowing Inside the NBA to keep going at all, a nod to a turbulent couple of years for the program. The show moved from TNT to ESPN last season after Turner Sports’ media rights deal with the NBA expired, USA Today reports, part of a broader shakeup in which TNT Sports’ NBA studio programming shifted to ESPN and ABC following the 2024-25 season, according to Sports Media Watch. For 2026-27, ESPN actually expanded the show’s regular-season schedule, giving Johnson more desk time than he had during his first season on the new network, per Awful Announcing.
Whether the show continues beyond this season without Johnson is an open question. Barkley has said he will retire when Johnson does, which Sports Media Watch notes could complicate the program’s future. Back in September, Barkley put it bluntly, telling Awful Announcing, “Me and Ernie are a package deal.” He echoed that sentiment to CBS Sports, saying, “unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year, 100 percent.”
For his part, Johnson isn’t framing this as a goodbye. “This is by no means the end. It’s just a turning of the page,” he said, according to USA Today. He is scheduled to finish his run hosting Inside the NBA at the NBA Finals in June, per Sports Media Watch, closing out a chapter that started decades before most of the show’s current audience was born. “I’ll forever cherish every chapter we have written with Inside the NBA,” Johnson said, as reported by WISN, the Milwaukee station that has followed his career from his hometown roots to the national stage.
