Getty Image
Legendary broadcaster Ernie Johnson had himself an emotional moment when Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith surprised him with their appearance on stage at his Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Before that happened though, EJ spoke to the audience and as he is known to do, he shared a poem that he wrote. It was an incredible moment of reflection from a man who has seen a lot in his 46 years of voicing sports.
“This is simply a blessing.”
EJ delivered this poem as he was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 🤟 pic.twitter.com/qFL2eW1U3y
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 13, 2023
Following his amazing speech, the show’s host James Brown appeared to have misplaced Ernie Johnson’s Hall of Fame award.
That was then the NBA on TNT cast of characters appeared through a pair of doors holding their co-worker’s long deserved prize.
“We wanted to hand deliver this to Ernie,” Shaq told Johnson. “Congratulations, brother.”
“Congratulations my brother, and we love you,” Kenny Smith told Johnson. “You definitely deserve it, you guys are amongst greatness right here with this man here, we understand that every night that we’re there.”
“Is Ernie Johnson as good a guy as he seems? He’s the best,” Charles Barkley added. “Congratulations, EJ.”
Johnson, noting that all four of the NBA on TNT guys were there on the stage, asked the group, “Who’s working tonight? There’s a TNT doubleheader tonight and I have no idea who’s in the studio.”
“I have no idea,” Kenny Smith replied.
(Adam Lefkoe, Grant Hill, Vince Carter and Jamal Crawford handled the boys’ duties for the night.)
Shaq, Kenny & Chuck showed up to present Ernie with his Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame award 👏 pic.twitter.com/Hio5TaHeZr
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 13, 2023
NBA on TNT also shared a couple of videos looking back at the remarkable broadcasting career of Ernie Johnson including a very special edition of “EJ’s Neato Stat.”
EJ has truly done it all – NBA, NFL, Wimbledon, Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Major League Baseball, and NCAA Men’s Basketball. He is a six-time Sports Emmy Award winner. He has been the host of Inside the NBA since 1990 and in that time show has won 17 Emmys. He was the 2021 National Sports Media Association National Sportscaster of the Year.
What took so long for him to be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame?