June 2, 2025 • 7 mins
What happens when a legendary voice signs off for the last time—and someone else grabs the mic?In this emotionally charged and hilariously candid episode of The Ben and Skin Show, hosts Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray unpack the seismic shift in the sports media world as Ernie Johnson delivers a heartfelt farewell to NBA on TNT—only to be upstaged by Shaq in a moment that had Skin yelling at his screen: “What are you doing, dude?!”🎯 Key Moments & Themes:
- A jaw-dropping stat: Scottie Scheffler has won as many tournaments since May 2 as the Colorado Rockies have won games. (Yes, really.)
- A deep dive into the end of an era for Inside the NBA—and why Ernie Johnson’s final sign-off hit so hard.
- Skin’s passionate reaction to Shaq’s interruption: “Read the room!”
- Behind-the-scenes drama: Charles Barkley spills the tea on a “stupid” TNT pilot and ESPN’s looming influence.
- A fiery debate on whether ESPN’s corporate culture will crush the soul of the most beloved sports studio show ever.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is graduation season. I still have not recovered from
(00:03):
my daughter's graduation two years ago in a class of
nineteen hundred with the last name Wade. But we got
lots of stuff to get too still, So don't go
nowhere right now, it's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Now, let's go around the sports.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
KG Queints has all the sports. Ye too, I have
a stapt It's gonna break your brain. Are you ready?
I'm ready? Dallas legend Scotti Scheffler has won three times
since May second? Has he won the Memorial this week?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Three times?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's May second?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
What major League baseball team has only won three times
in the last month.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It takesas Rangers. No, oh, they've won a ton Okay,
I thought you were tying it in. That's got to
be the Chicago White SOXLP. Who is Colorado Rockies?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Good job, it's May second.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Scotty Cheffer has won the same amount of golf tournaments
as the Rockies have games.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
And they play every day. That's insane. That is nuts.
They're so bad. They're nine to fifty. Rangers are off
today and play tomorrow. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They got a series win. They had eleven runs Friday night.
They had eight or nine yesterday they had nothing on Saturday.
It's okay, series win over a good team.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Head above Water boys, Yeah, seekers back right, he is okay?
Speaker 4 (01:26):
All right?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well we know that it is the Pacers in the
Thunder that gets going on Thursday nine. Yeah, and talk
a little more about that later on. Let's get to this.
I want to play audio. This is Ernie Johnson of
TNT Turner Sports, who's been there forever, and he is
signing off the NBA on tn T because with the
NBA's new media rights deal, they're gonna be on ESPN
and Amazon, at NBC and ABC and they're not gonna
(01:49):
be on Turner Sports anymore at TNT. So here's his
sign off again. I cut this down to about forty
seconds because he had three minutes of very thoughtful commentary
and shoutouts and he is getting emotional at the end.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
He's been at this company his entire life. Yeah. Can
I say something right quick too, because I want to
set the scene on this because I was watching this live.
There's four guys on set. They've been the core of
the inside the NBA for a while. Shack Ernie, Kenny,
and Charles. So they all said something. Shack went first
(02:20):
set the tone dropped an F.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Bomb, then Kenny went, Kenny echoed Shacks F bomb.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Then Charles went, Charles told a great story, and then
now it's time for Ernie, the guy who runs all
of this. Ernie does his thing, and it was you
could tell he had written it and it was very thoughtful.
And so that's what you're gonna play.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
The four of us are gonna be together, our production
crew is gonna be together. It's gonna be that same bunch.
We're still gonna be shooting. That show in Atlanta is
just going to air somewhere else. And so the craziness
that you've seen, the nonsense and the foolishness and the
top notch basketball analysis, all of that stuff's going to
be on. It's going to be on ESPN or ABC
(03:03):
next year, not on T young T for that. It's, uh,
we're sad, but I'm proud to say, for the last time,
thanks for watching us. It's the NBA on T young T.
Before we go, guys, just do the money joint.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Come on. Shack Man looked at me right when that happened.
I was watching it live and I went, what are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
What are you doing?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Dude?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Let me just say that Ernie started that job when
Shack was a senior at Cole High School in San Antonio,
So that meant a lot to him. And like, I
just think about in the small role I have on
the MAVs broadcast when we have something important going on,
follow well is the voice of it. When he's finished
up going.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Oh and one more thing, Like Ernie had that in
his mind. I've I've been here for three decades, I've
given my life to this company. I have the final word,
and I'm gonna end it with how I've ended every
NBA broadcast.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And then she goes, hold on everybody, I gotta talk again,
and I was just like, dude, what are you doing?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Man?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Just some f in respect. I don't know, man, I
get it.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And you know, there's probably people listening right now going, hey, skin,
you're being pretentious.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
But like I'm telling you, that meant a lot. That
meant a lot to all of them.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah, And I mean the nature of that show is
them to just goof off and say stuff, you know.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
So he was definitely not thinking, Yeah, I agree, and
you're exactly right. And my point was, hey, man read
the room. Yeah yeah, as Ernie's doing that, you can
tell Ernie had thought out. This is a legendary show.
Most people think Inside the NBA is the greatest sports
studio show of all time. That's up for debate. But
most people think that this is their final time. They're
(04:59):
gonna go do something else on ESPN. But I tell
you about that. Okay, you've got that. This is Barkley
on and Dan Patrick this Morning. Does the show look
like the show? It's just it's Inside the NBA, but
it's on ESPN.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Dad, We don't even know Okay, yeah, I don't know
what we're doing. Then TNT is trying to do something
stupid behind the scenes. We taped the pilot about a
month ago and it was the stupidest, you know, because
because we're not going to be on ESPN as much
as people think.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Wait, wait, what do you mean you taped a pilot.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
But they're trying to do something stupid at TNT. And
like I say, we taped the pilot doing stupid stuff.
I wouldn't want to go out like that. So but
I guess they want to feel like they're doing something
to make us earn our money, but from TNT.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So they're doing a show, and they were making fun
of the fact that tn T doesn't have the rights
to the NBA anymore, so it's them just doing stuff.
They don't have highlights of basketball games they can cut to.
They can't really talk about it. So but TNT is
still going to make them do a show on TNT.
And also he said, we're going to work about a
half or maybe a third of the time that we're
normally working over at ESPN. I saw Bill Simmons say
(06:11):
some stuff today too, where he was like, dude, ESPN
is going to change that show. They're not gonna be
able to do whatever they want like they were at TNT.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I will say, I mean, Bill Simmons has been at
war with ESPN forever. I will say, in our brief
time at ESPN, Yes, ESPN is about those four letters.
Those four letters matter more than anybody they've ever had
on there. Oberman, Bill Simmons, Dan Patrick, Scott Van Pelt,
(06:40):
you guys can all suck it. There's four letters ESPN
and it's about that over anything else.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I would disagree with that now because now it's more
about Pat McAfee and Steven A. Smith than anything else.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Man, they'll root Pat McAfee out, do you think so? Yes,
I mean he did a bunch backtracking.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I mean, dude, Bill Simmons was huge. Bill Simmons was
there when we were there. He was a monster.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And he said know what fu and then he sold
his company to Spotify for seven hundred million.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Wow. Yeah, No, they don't. They don't care about you.
They care about those four letters. That is it telling you?
That's interesting. I care about the nine letters the Today game. Oh,
and we're gonna do it next. It's
It is graduation season. I still have not recovered from
(00:03):
my daughter's graduation two years ago in a class of
nineteen hundred with the last name Wade. But we got
lots of stuff to get too still, So don't go
nowhere right now, it's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Now, let's go around the sports.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
KG Queints has all the sports. Ye too, I have
a stapt It's gonna break your brain. Are you ready?
I'm ready? Dallas legend Scotti Scheffler has won three times
since May second? Has he won the Memorial this week?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Three times?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's May second?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
That's incredible.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
What major League baseball team has only won three times
in the last month.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It takesas Rangers. No, oh, they've won a ton Okay,
I thought you were tying it in. That's got to
be the Chicago White SOXLP. Who is Colorado Rockies?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Good job, it's May second.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Scotty Cheffer has won the same amount of golf tournaments
as the Rockies have games.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
And they play every day. That's insane. That is nuts.
They're so bad. They're nine to fifty. Rangers are off
today and play tomorrow. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They got a series win. They had eleven runs Friday night.
They had eight or nine yesterday they had nothing on Saturday.
It's okay, series win over a good team.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Head above Water boys, Yeah, seekers back right, he is okay?
Speaker 4 (01:26):
All right?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well we know that it is the Pacers in the
Thunder that gets going on Thursday nine. Yeah, and talk
a little more about that later on. Let's get to this.
I want to play audio. This is Ernie Johnson of
TNT Turner Sports, who's been there forever, and he is
signing off the NBA on tn T because with the
NBA's new media rights deal, they're gonna be on ESPN
and Amazon, at NBC and ABC and they're not gonna
(01:49):
be on Turner Sports anymore at TNT. So here's his
sign off again. I cut this down to about forty
seconds because he had three minutes of very thoughtful commentary
and shoutouts and he is getting emotional at the end.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
He's been at this company his entire life. Yeah. Can
I say something right quick too, because I want to
set the scene on this because I was watching this live.
There's four guys on set. They've been the core of
the inside the NBA for a while. Shack Ernie, Kenny,
and Charles. So they all said something. Shack went first
(02:20):
set the tone dropped an F.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Bomb, then Kenny went, Kenny echoed Shacks F bomb.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Then Charles went, Charles told a great story, and then
now it's time for Ernie, the guy who runs all
of this. Ernie does his thing, and it was you
could tell he had written it and it was very thoughtful.
And so that's what you're gonna play.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
The four of us are gonna be together, our production
crew is gonna be together. It's gonna be that same bunch.
We're still gonna be shooting. That show in Atlanta is
just going to air somewhere else. And so the craziness
that you've seen, the nonsense and the foolishness and the
top notch basketball analysis, all of that stuff's going to
be on. It's going to be on ESPN or ABC
(03:03):
next year, not on T young T for that. It's, uh,
we're sad, but I'm proud to say, for the last time,
thanks for watching us. It's the NBA on T young T.
Before we go, guys, just do the money joint.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Come on. Shack Man looked at me right when that happened.
I was watching it live and I went, what are
you doing?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
What are you doing?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Dude?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Let me just say that Ernie started that job when
Shack was a senior at Cole High School in San Antonio,
So that meant a lot to him. And like, I
just think about in the small role I have on
the MAVs broadcast when we have something important going on,
follow well is the voice of it. When he's finished
up going.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Oh and one more thing, Like Ernie had that in
his mind. I've I've been here for three decades, I've
given my life to this company. I have the final word,
and I'm gonna end it with how I've ended every
NBA broadcast.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And then she goes, hold on everybody, I gotta talk again,
and I was just like, dude, what are you doing?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Man?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Just some f in respect. I don't know, man, I
get it.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And you know, there's probably people listening right now going, hey, skin,
you're being pretentious.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
But like I'm telling you, that meant a lot. That
meant a lot to all of them.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Yeah, And I mean the nature of that show is
them to just goof off and say stuff, you know.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
So he was definitely not thinking, Yeah, I agree, and
you're exactly right. And my point was, hey, man read
the room. Yeah yeah, as Ernie's doing that, you can
tell Ernie had thought out. This is a legendary show.
Most people think Inside the NBA is the greatest sports
studio show of all time. That's up for debate. But
most people think that this is their final time. They're
(04:59):
gonna go do something else on ESPN. But I tell
you about that. Okay, you've got that. This is Barkley
on and Dan Patrick this Morning. Does the show look
like the show? It's just it's Inside the NBA, but
it's on ESPN.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Dad, We don't even know Okay, yeah, I don't know
what we're doing. Then TNT is trying to do something
stupid behind the scenes. We taped the pilot about a
month ago and it was the stupidest, you know, because
because we're not going to be on ESPN as much
as people think.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Wait, wait, what do you mean you taped a pilot.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
But they're trying to do something stupid at TNT. And
like I say, we taped the pilot doing stupid stuff.
I wouldn't want to go out like that. So but
I guess they want to feel like they're doing something
to make us earn our money, but from TNT.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So they're doing a show, and they were making fun
of the fact that tn T doesn't have the rights
to the NBA anymore, so it's them just doing stuff.
They don't have highlights of basketball games they can cut to.
They can't really talk about it. So but TNT is
still going to make them do a show on TNT.
And also he said, we're going to work about a
half or maybe a third of the time that we're
normally working over at ESPN. I saw Bill Simmons say
(06:11):
some stuff today too, where he was like, dude, ESPN
is going to change that show. They're not gonna be
able to do whatever they want like they were at TNT.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I will say, I mean, Bill Simmons has been at
war with ESPN forever. I will say, in our brief
time at ESPN, Yes, ESPN is about those four letters.
Those four letters matter more than anybody they've ever had
on there. Oberman, Bill Simmons, Dan Patrick, Scott Van Pelt,
(06:40):
you guys can all suck it. There's four letters ESPN
and it's about that over anything else.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
I would disagree with that now because now it's more
about Pat McAfee and Steven A. Smith than anything else.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Man, they'll root Pat McAfee out, do you think so? Yes,
I mean he did a bunch backtracking.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I mean, dude, Bill Simmons was huge. Bill Simmons was
there when we were there. He was a monster.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And he said know what fu and then he sold
his company to Spotify for seven hundred million.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Wow. Yeah, No, they don't. They don't care about you.
They care about those four letters. That is it telling you?
That's interesting. I care about the nine letters the Today game. Oh,
and we're gonna do it next. It's
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