Ernie Johnson, the ‘Tony Hawk of NBA Analysis’, on being the voice of hope, joy & the game | S3 E15

Ernie Johnson joins hosts Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner to talk the landscape of basketball today and how, despite multiple battles with cancer, Ernie continues to overcome and change the game.

But before we dive in with one of the G.O.A.Ts, we HAVE to talk Super Bowl odds – more specifically Andre’s Niners! Then, you know Evan had to break down Luka’s 73-point game which of course called for a surprising rebuttal from Andre: do these stats even matter if you ain’t winning?!

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Tune in for the latest hoops insights and engaging sports talk with your hosts, former NBA teammates and lifelong friends, Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner.

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What’s up everybody happy Wednesday we got quite a lineup for y’all today before we get to it make sure y’all subscribe to point4 wherever you listen to your podcast and follow us on all social channels at point forward don’t miss a thing this past week I feel like

I was on the edge of my chair both NFC and AFC playoff games my Niner squeaked it out I know you counted us out but here we are back in the Super Bowl I don’t know I guess I just I’m always affiliated with winning we will be diving into who we had

Winning the Super Bowl uh and to remind y’all I’ve had a 49ers blanket since I was eight years old so real fan and then of course we got to discuss Luca Don’s 73o game and we’re that ranks in history yeah I don’t know if people are gonna like my take

Too much but last ahead can’t I can’t wait to hear the take I want to know I actually want to hear it to be honest with you because with the game it’s a whole lot of ciphering and numbers and a lot of crazy stuff yeah cuz I was

Actually watching that game I once he got to like 30 like five it was the second quarter so I was watching so yes we will dive into that lastly Our Guest on the Pod this week is the one and only Ernie Johnson from Warner Brothers Turner Sports the whole conglomerate so diving in There Now you already know what it is point forward is presented by DraftKings fantasy sports check out what draftking has to offer this season with code point forward because life’s more fun when you’re in on the action DraftKings the crown is yours gambling problem call 1800 Gambler age and eligibility

Restrictions apply void where prohibited see draftkings.com for details I know everyone was tuned in to this football game on Sunday obviously I want to know what the numbers look like when they come back so the Super Bowl is officially set the San Francisco 49ers my San Francisco 49ers

First my mother’s Kansas City Chiefs my mom’s from Kansas City oh wow so yeah yeah yeah so it’s uh take her she should go by herself I I just don’t like rockers I don’t I don’t like too many people in the same place at the same time it’s

Just a lot um what’s that phobia called weirdo phobia social anxiety the fish syndrome this is true so what are the draft King odds for Super Bowl champ and MVP 49ers opened up a two and a half Point favorites quickly bet down to onepoint favorites on Sunday night over 80% of

The bets placed on draft Kings on this matchup are on the Chiefs which is super interesting so the so the 49ers are favorites to win the Super Bowl I like that how does that shock you cause Mahomes just he’s finding a way to get to the Super Bowl no matter

What like his tight end getting old um he’s got a lot of pressure from a whole fan base of musical artist or I should say entertainment artist word word word to reita Franklin she said she wore nice gowns she didn’t say anything about her voice not my words don’t get mad at me

Um so saw right no I saw that bro but this the only thing I’ll say G I know she get she can write the [ __ ] out of a song and and when and when a song hits it hits you know what I mean I I I wouldn’t know because I don’t listen but

I believe you yeah if you listen to trouble like the song she wrote about John Mar like some of that [ __ ] hit or like the best day if I was a daughter it would bring a tear to my eye but other than that I feel

You I feel you let’s keep going we not straight up no I mean I feel like that needs to be said so thank you for the education education of the miseducation of Taylor Swift yes MVP odds uh for the Super Bowl Patrick Mahomes is the highest at plus

130 followed by Brock pie interesting at plus 210 he did come through in the clutch for us I want to mix this up I dig you bro but the white running back needs to be the MVP man like just for the S like Christian McCaffrey is really doing work

Bro I’m a I’m a brock py fan dog but Chris mcaffry really matters Travis Kelce put on a show this past week Sunday he’s at plus 50 1500 um yeah he he’s been playing well in the playoffs he’s broke Jerry Rice Jerry Rice’s uh reception record for

Playoffs I believe for the playoffs most receptions in the NFL playoff history wow Debo Samuel is a plus 2000 uh he would be my B if the Niners win um I felt like he was the uh X Factor in the game this past week against the Lions

George ker was a plus 6,000 as well so mainly uh quarterback crazy yeah George KD’s a plus he might not catch he always has like the biggest catches like most important catches like all the time so it’s kind of C he might only get like three or four but it’s

Pretty crazy he makes big big big catches bro tough dude and he had a crazy um block on your boy last game from the Lions and they they kept rewinding it on his back yeah yeah and that’s a big boy yeah that’s a big boy

That’s a big boy damn I want know he probably really strong if he held off yeah yeah I’m I’m still sorry Detroit lost I was it’s just it’s just a back breaker just a see like see a team lose a game like that no I mean it sound like the

Playoffs n har G but damn yeah yeah that was wild what else the NBA season is in full swing and when I can’t get enough of the action on the court I spice things up betting on draftking sports book an official partner of the NBA right now new

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Void in Ontario bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance ctk ng.com basketball for eligibility and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources so we heard him say what did we hear him say ET shoot after luuka dropped the 73 points man some people are saying that

It it’s it goes down arguably one of like the greatest games or the greatest game in NBA history because you compare to Kobe’s 81 I think Kobe only had like three assists luuka had like 73 points what was it nine seven assists like nine rebounds yeah I thought he had double

Double on rebounds maybe who knows but I’m saying like the only other game that really came to mind as a recent was when James Harden went and got that what was that that 16 and 18 yes he did that was that was wonderful yeah so I’m saying like where where do

You think that game the Luca Don game ranks a monks you know some of the best games in history or is it all gas 73 points is crazy in the stand of 48 minutes St I’m trying to put it in the right perspective he made a shot in

The third quarter over the Johnson kid who’s looks really good I like him a lot that’s his name right Jaylen Johnson that’s his Jaylen Johnson he’s balling the uh I like him a lot the Exile kid from duke yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I’m I’m a whoop his behind

When I see him but this kid is incredible he can play some ball and he he was playing really good defense on LCA Luka hit a crazy step back top of the key tough shot um but as I’m watching the game he had a tough side

Step Baseline um going to his right in front of the in front of the Atlanta bench that was impressive um they started double him in the fourth quarter getting the ball out of his hands full court which led to some open Corner threes Dallas did a good job of you know

Winning the game it still a close game but it it looked it looked different than the Kobe game I mean you saw a few Clips where it was just like layups to the basket the defense you know defense of Atlanta suspect I don’t know yeah and that’s what’s so

Crazy cuz like the next step you see so many people like it’s been like what three like 60 plus point games like the past week or so and when it’s coming down to it it’s like I’ve been playing open gym like versus regular students in

High school and I feel like gym class is only 35 minutes and I put up like 60 points and I felt like but that made sense because I was playing versus kids that like never really hooped I hoop every day but like a dude scoring 73 points or

Dudes getting like to 60 points over like a 48 minute span what does that our players really that good or has a game kind of or like defense is kind of watered down bro like what what does that mean for the game you know what I’m saying because now there’s gonna be so

Many numbers like even Tatum he’s at 11k already like to do those comparisons and to hit those runs it’s like has it been shifted a bit like kind of how they say the quarterback numbers do in football yeah I do think offensive players have gotten better and I do think they have

A a a different type of package like they’ve added that extra layer of uh creativity to get a open look you know like we I’m seeing Maxi do what he does CJ McCullum was was early on it DNE was early on it I mean James Harden uh I

Think everyone was talking about how Steph has kind of changed the game with a three-point shot you know we were speaking to our guy last night uh shout out to our man Yoni and he was saying you know in his opinion there’s only been three guys who have changed the way

The game is played it was Kareem it was it was magic uh no it was magic MJ step yeah but I do think James Harden and his stepback has added another layer to the game of basketball in terms of the way it’s played offensively and uh the

Creation of space the way these kids Darius Garland the way he’s step back step back yeah it’s a p yeah I do think there’s an extra half of a step in there like they’ve came up with they turned coined this term called Gathering gather step gather step or the ball is

Not fully gathered to where you can rolling in your hand and you can get off three or four steps I think if you want to add all that you got to bring back not fouling but uh terms of physicality like I’ve always said this I

Went to a WNBA game and I said to myself whoa up close and personal like they play like they compete they get after like the physicality is a different level than ours like it’s more physical in the W than it is our game and you have to be

Wary of where your hands are you know the offensive player so creative of drawing contact and then they don’t call the foul and the playoffs and so now was a different game in the playoffs to where you got certain types of sentiments and KY lry syndrome you can’t hoop without the

Whistle and and that’s what people say you know you get labeled a guy who can with with great gamesmanship but in the playoffs that gamesmanship may not translate and that’s where I struggle with the game right now and so you know we got the End season tournament that’s

Really good for the game uh for the competition level but how do we sustain that tough competitive nature that can be I’m not saying overly physical but like you can play defense you know you can bump a guy coming across the lane yeah you know a guy a guy can’t flow his

Arms into a shot that’s what I’m saying yeah I remember what no said when I was like a rookie and this is 2010 he was just like man I like what do you think about the game now just discussing stuff he’s like bro dudes are too good not to

Be able to touch them so he’s like one thing that I’m getting frustrated with and no Shion legendary Argentinian player but just like no frustrated you can’t stop Kobe you can’t stop Joe John you can’t stop Melo by not being able to touch him so what are you supposed to do

And then he just saying from a competitor standpoint and like a three and D or whatever else is like [ __ ] how else do I make a living you know what I’m saying but I just think anytime dudes are getting you seeing dudes in a week span

It’s like seven scores of 50 and over like individually like that’s kind of insane bro this is an NBA dog like not saying the dudes can’t stop him I’m just like [ __ ] I just what’s the point of going through shooting round or watching film n get 55 like

Every blue b used to get 50 like he got 50 now you get bro 50 is we should do a Draft Kings where we bet on on who’s gonna get 50 again because it’s gonna pop up in a week do like B barely plays and goes and gets 402 every time you

Play right right right well that’s another that’s that we were talking about this and please I’m teeing this up for you what if you if you score 35 or more what’s going to be the result for the team I feel as though we gonna win like

I I never understood like how you how dudes get 35 Plus and can’t win like you understand what I’m saying you see dudes have these miraculous games of 40 one time I play with Trey young and granted and probably was my fault cuz I was on

The team but like yeah 48 and 15 and I’m like damn imagine losing with 48 and 15 I’m like bro I can never if I went and shot my load to get 40 like shooting every bullet in your gun and not killing a deer and I feel like that’s the difference that’s the

Difference in our game yeah where you can score 60 70 points and lose yeah and I I think we have it’s like a the Creator economy that we’re in or the social influencer economy that we’re in is more about the performance than the actual win and I do think you know

Statistics are taking precedence over you know um the team aspect of it this just quite this it’s easy and simple because as we keep going over this thing where it’s like you see these incredible performances but how many times have we seen the MVP win the championship in the

Same year yeah LeBron Steph were the last two guys and then they just had this great performances last week against each other and they both you know talking after the game like how do we still do it at this old age and it’s you still have

That you still have a sense of like what you’re playing for in terms of like what’s priority and so that’s my problem with the game right now where we’re glorifying we’re glorifying these numbers so much without it coming with like within like the team aspect of it now everybody’s going

To play what one way and so now how you going to teach a guy to cut how you going to teach a guy to set a screen and roll how you going to teach a guy to you know you just make a back cut just to clear out space Sprint the lane like

Everybody just like I’m trying to get the rebound I’m trying to go to work now every game is going to be a All-Star Game hopefully hopefully we have a different allstar game this year but like that’s where we’re trending towards like you know who the kids want to be

Like we teaching our kids hey man you ain’t got to play defense cuz you can’t and hey man like my son’s are a great passer I’m like man you pass too much bro you ain’t going to the league if you pass the ball cuz that ain’t important anymore that’s what I’m worried about

And you want to know it’s so crazy too G like you playing with NBA players like it’s not bad like I see just keep cooking but like bro you need to shoot like you need to score 70 or like you see dudes it’s like so you play with other Pros

Like there was one dude that needed to get 70 points but you know what I’m saying like the the like to move the ball around distribute the ball around like you playing with other capable players like sometimes always wondering like damn where where that 43 shots come

From this theob game yeah the Kobe game he he at had time he was like oh y’all don’t want to play today yeah all right cool like they was losing they were losing and he was like no y’all don’t want to play today I’m gonna win the

Game by myself like that was what made that game legendary because he said to himself he said to his teammates all right y’all y’all BS today like all right I’m not wasting my time move out the way and I don’t think we you don’t see that as much or you don’t see that

At all and so I’m watching the game I watched the Atlanta Dallas game and never did never at any point that I think Dallas is going to lose you know what I mean like like and so it was just like what are we doing out

Here I mean shout out to Luka like you got to go get 73 that’s one thing that I don’t want to get lost you got to go get 73 you can’t just pull up and just be like all right I’m walk into this like you had to go get it yeah

Proud that you got it for sure man point forward today we have one of our our favorite guests um Evan and I have been seeing this guy on most of the time on Thursdays throughout winter and spring uh in the evenings as our um as

Our place of peace and as we dove into the world of basketball um he’s done so much uh he’s become a household favorite uh as the game of the popularity of basketball has exploded um they have an amazing cast now with Inside the NBA please welcome Ernie Johnson Jr say can

I say something real quick yes sir happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Andre happy 40th birthday to you yeah yo that was pretty good bro that was really good that was impressive bro Ernie Johnson just saying happy birthday to by

You know I I can I can do that lounge lizard act every now and then you know that’s my that’s my uh Koke goto voice there you go happy birthday man 40 of those things man yes yes I’m happy to be here I think I believe so I am happy to be

Here I assume you celebrated your 40th probably with 36 holes of golf sadly no oh my things have really changed for you man yes know like I’m trying to explain to people like I have like a real job like I don’t play golf oh that’s got to be painful it’s very

Painful to my soul yeah cuz I know how much you love hitting it man yeah I mean I’m in my golf studio right now actually so I’ll get like 15 minutes here and there where I hit a few shots so my handicap still single digit but it’s

High it’s not good it’s not what it was wow no because I know how much you love it man we had you on our golf coverage before man it was a lot of fun yeah well Mark sometime in March uh that’s all I’ll say I’m GNA have some fun playing

Golf very good very good and Evan it’s great to be with you man I appreciate you no doubt thanks for jumping on pause we uh we we definitely appreciate you uh definitely appreciate you pulling up and everything you done for uh you know the the game of baskball media so this is

Going to be a crazy uh interview so let’s we’ll start off yeah we’ll start off first and um obviously we all know who Ernie Johnson is now you’re just duting into uh you know the Hall of Fame but uh let’s go into who Ernie Johnson was to start way before you know he

Became a famous you know famous for inside NBA oh man well I tell you I my my original Dream and my goal was to be a a big league baseball player uh because that’s what my dad did played for the Braves back in the 50s and and uh I just

I somehow seem to lack the talent to to carry that through I I did play one year of baseball at Georgia my I I walked on as a freshman and then was told to to walk off as a sophomore and so that was it man and and so so then you’re kind of

Like uh like a lot of college kids you know you you’re saying so where am I going to where am I going to be and what am I going to do and um I had thought about being an English teacher and a baseball coach and my dad was actually

You know a broadcaster for ages and ages doing Braves games and so he never really pushed me that direction but I thought I’d give it a try and kind of worked at the campus radio station in Athens and you know enjoyed getting into the games for free and that kind of

Thing and and covering Sports and that’s that’s really where it started and then you know you just kind of pay your dues along the way Evan you you know you work in little TV stations and get your experience and see how far it’ll take you and now I’ve been at Turner for the

Last 35 years I can’t believe that either let’s dig in deeper because you said that uh your dad was a baseball player he won a World Series back in 57 right with Hank Aaron so what was that like what were those early days and memories like uh you saw some pretty

Great baseball but also some uh pretty serious things off the field in regards to you know Mr Aaron and the civil rights movement and you know you picked up and moved from uh the Midwest and Yankee area down to the South so I’m sure it’s a bunch of different you know

Kind of cultural culture shot for you oh yeah I mean well I was you know um I have two older sisters and so they got to enjoy you know watching my dad actually play more than I did because I was born I was born in 56 he retired in

59 and so it’s like uh you know i’ I’ve seen videos of him uh but but my experience with him was more just tagging along going to the ballpark when he was calling games and it was a I mean as a kid man that’s a great way to to

Grow up you know you go to the stadium hours before the first pitch you’re hanging around the batting cage Hank eron’s asking you how your little league team is doing you know it’s like this is ridiculous and and so it was um it was

It was a a blessed way to grow up you know for a sports loving kid to be able to do that and um and and yeah I mean the move you know when you’re eight or nine years old and you’re living in Milwaukee and they say you’re moving to

Atlanta I had no idea what Atlanta was I there was no I had no clue and and then so but basically that’s where I’ve grown up down here in the South and and it was um you know I you know watched Henry and during his Chase of

Babe Ruth’s record and and then you become aware obviously of how difficult a task that was for him it’s it’s it’s enough to chase a Legend’s home run record but it’s another to do it under the circumstances he was doing it you know because there was a lot of racial

Stuff going on there was a lot of hate um and to Henry Aaron’s credit he was strong enough to withstand all of that and then and then become you know the greatest home run hitter i’ ever seen let’s talk about your transition and how you start

Out you know I think you made your first debut on uh Inside the NBA 1990 and there’s been a lot of discussions recently EV and I have been talking about it you know how the game has changed uh in the last four or five years but going back to 1990 you know

Kind of talk to us about how the halftime show was then and then how Sports media has progressed you know through these different times because we’ve also spoke to there’s only been a few players throughout NBA history who have actually changed the game in a dramatic way and uh we were speaking to

A friend last night and he said uh Magic was one MJ was another and Steph Curry was another uh but from your world you know how have you seen the coverage of the game and you know the the the content being driven from you know around the game how that’s changed over

Time yeah I mean when I started out um Craig Seager was actually the studio host when I when I started a TNT and Craig always wanted to be out in the field and being a sideline reporter and they and they made the change and um so

I mean when I first sat in that chair I mean it it was just like every other show it was really just a highlight driven kind of halftime show where you just go through the games here’s a highlight here’s a score here’s a highlight here’s a score we’ll be back

After this here’s a couple more highlights and boom I’ll see you after the game uh and it was me by myself um and so that can get a little boring for the viewer and um and I think that we um as as Cheryl Miller and Reggie Theus and

Dick forace folks like that started joining me yeah remember it it gives you it gives you an opportunity um to kind of be more of who you are not just sitting down to say okay let’s spit out these highlights and and that’s it so we’re able to have more conversations

Like this um and and we’re able to you know when you have an analyst next to you able to really pan where they’ve been and and have you know situations that they’ve been in and that you can you can tap into that so um that was um

That was the biggest change early on for me and then when we when you know Kenny was in between you know 10 days late in his career uh every now and then we’d say hey let’s uh let’s have Kenny Smith and and the first time we had him in the

Studio I remember talking to Tim Kylie our producer saying man this guy gets it man he’s just he’s just got this natural ability to communicate and to uh and to not lose who he is at all I mean he’s you know Kenny’s got this New York thing

Calls himself Kenny y you know it’s it’s like he’s got all of this stuff going on and um and so that’s uh he was he was an immediate fit and so he and I had a he and I had a great time and it was so

Much fun in those early days just to be able to bounce things off to Kenny and he he was never at a loss for something to say because we’ve seen enough guys I’ve seen enough guys in the course of my career when the red light goes on a

Guy who was a great postgame interview and was always you know had a great personality you thought he’d be great on TV when the red light went on it was like where did that guy go he he just disappeared that was never a situation with Kenny and and obviously never a

Situation with Chuck you know when you know when he was always the most quotable guy in the world as a player and always spoke his mind and he he never he never changed a bit and I think that’s one of the reasons that the three of us have been together for more than

20 years uh is that they never lost sight of who they are and just brought that to the screen so when you sit there and you you add a shack to the last part was there ever a point because I’m assuming you went to you know school for this you’re

You know Big Time media guy were were you ever like damn I’m sitting here with three x athletes how can I carry the ass across the finish line and like you know what I mean like was there ever something like that did you feel like yo I don’t want

To have the babysit in this sense or was there a leeway of making sure like y there’ll be a grace period or was the first day you were just like when you all four together just like yo this is a we’re gonna be here forever no Evan

That’s a great question and and look I’ve never lost sight of the fact that how how privileged I am to be sitting in the chair that I’m sitting in and it was never oh how am I going to carry these guys it was like how am I going to keep

Up and that was and and and I’ve and you you name the sport I mean look in the course of the Decades I’ve been at Turner you know I had NFL studio with Ken Stabler I’ve had baseball St studio and baseball play byplay with John Smoltz and Cal Ripken and Dennis

Eckersley and and Jimmy Rollins and you and and Pedro Martinez um that’s I mean I’m the luckiest guy in the world because you can’t help but when you hang out with folks like that just learn even more about the game you think you know a lot until you sit sit there with guys

Who have played it at the highest level and so I feel just very fortunate uh to have been able to do this for this long and and especially in the case of Inside the NBA look there’s always a TV executive who thinks you know what I

Have a better mix of guys in mind let’s try this guy with this guy this guy I mean the only change we’ve made is Shaq you know and and so you add the world’s biggest kid um to to those shenanigans that we’ve got going on there and and

It’s going to be a good time and so I mean you think about it Shaq’s been there more than a Dozen Years with us too and so um yeah it’s um it’s the world’s greatest job I call it a get to job and you know when I talk to college

When I talk to college kids you know who were in journalism school and I was doing that just the other day at my alma Mo at Georgia so it’s a get to not a got to we’ve seen enough folks who have got to jobs who walk into work like this oh

Man I got to do this again today and for me it’s a get to and it’s not like I show up at work like this every day it’s a get to job I mean every every job has its moments but to be able to do this for this long

With this group man that’s off the charts I’m stealing that by the way got get to you had a get to job right I was thinking that I was thinking that I was also wondering you talked about earlier about trying to say keep up how have you been able to stand out

You know you want the bigger besides you know obviously D Doris Burke you want of the biggest you know media Personalities in regards to basketball how are you able to stand out keep your authenticity and you know continue to build that following up there with Tony Hawk black

Folks love you just as much bro be like to be honest am i l like some be like no dude dude I got a stack of invites to the barbecue I and I and I enjoy that I and I realize that uh and it’s and um I think the way that you

Stand out is not trying to if if indeed on standing out I mean uh if you the thing about our show that’s great is nobody tries to make the show about themselves and I think that’s one of the biggest downfalls uh that that a show can have is if somebody is trying to

Make it about them but that’s never been the case with us you know everything that happens you know some nights you’re going to be talking the next day about oh did you see what Chuck did oh did you see what Shaq did you see Kenny toss

Shaq into the tree did you see all of that stuff just kind of happens and so nobody’s trying to make the show about themselves and and I think when that happens when there’s kind of that selfless feel then everybody stands out and the show stands out so that’s I

Think uh we’ve been able to succeed in that area simply because of the personalities there and the fact that hey look we’re four guys who just love each other and I don’t want that to sound corny or any of that but it’s true it’s true we’ve been through a lot of us

Have been we’ve been through a lot of stuff in each of our lives and that we’ve been able to to be there for them um and so I think it really begins with that mutual respect and that admiration and that love for each other now you spoke earlier about you

Know doing uh baseball U and then you know we spoke about golf you know yeah do doing golf coverage uh how do you not switch up who you are but how are you thinking about tailoring your voice or the tone to the audience you know throughout these different sports or

Doing the Olympics or just the vast array of things that you you get a chance to uh cover yeah put stick in your ass it’s like uh you you realize you realize the events that you’re doing and and so I I I can still remember the

First time I did a a golf tournament that was back in 1995 uh we uh and that was the first year of 20s something that I did the PGA Championship uh for TNT as we’re working with our friends at CBS and and so the same vibe that you use in

A studio show when you’re chopping it up with Kenny and sha and Chuck that’s not going to really work on a golf telecast The Telecast doesn’t lend itself to that doesn’t lend itself to Long storytelling so you learn that in a hurry and you know one of the best uh

Mentors I had for that was Vern lanquist because because Vern and I were working together on CB on on those CBS TNT uh PGA championships and remember sitting in a golf cart with him at Riviera just saying Hey What Can you tell me about what I’m about to get into he said

You’re a caption writer he said folks can see what’s going on on the screen you just got to put a caption to it so don’t worry about getting long- winded and talking and talking and talking and then when you’re working with Jim Nance it’s like I’m not gonna come on like

This not when Jim’s saying good afternoon friends you know it’s like it’s like you you realize you the kind of tone that is set by the event you’re covering and then it’s going to and that’s going to be different from when you’re doing a baseball game and

Something gets exciting late in the game and so you just learn that through reps I think that’s I think that’s the best way to put it well you’ve done a lot of different events and obviously I I’ve been trying to get out to events but Dre’s been super busy playing what’s

Been some events or world you know events that’s been super fun to cover you suggest a basketball crowd to really jump out and go explore that that shocked you you know what I mean yeah I mean there there are certainly moments uh that you witness in an arena I mean

Look when LeBron went for that what 29 or whatever he did in Detroit you know and that that run you know to when you’re in that Arena when you’re in the arena when Vince is dunking you know in Oakland and you know that dunk contest

That was like a that was like a playoff game you know every time he took off it was it it was it was a a very unique feeling but at the same time like getting to do the Olympics and and these are things that that mean a lot to me

Because I witnessed them because you know the history and the backstory of of how they occurred but there was a guy named Dan Jansen who was a great speed skater and I happened to be doing speed skating at the Olympics in both France and Norway and um and Dan was the best

In the world but had a lot of personal issues going on he lost his sister to leukemia U Back in the late 80s while he was at the Olympics and then in his races where he was favored to win he fell in both races which is unheard of

And and he stuck with it through the years and finally in his last chance in Norway and I’m calling this he’s in the thousand meters and he wins in World Record time and then skates a a Victory lap holding his daughter Jane who was named for his late sister and so the

Emotions of a situation like that you never forget that man it’s just like uh it supersedes any of the competition actually and and those are the kind of stories that make Sports so great and you know in golf shoot Jack Nicholas played his last major at St Andrews um

At the at the Open Championship and we’re on the air that day you know this is not weekend coverage that’s that’s ABC this is the Thursday Friday coverage and we’ve got it and here’s Jack coming down to he’s not going to make the cut but he’s playing the 18th at the old

Course this birthplace of golf and he birdies the 18th and to be on the air when that was happening and to know when to shut up is the important thing there you know it’s not like again it’s not like oh wow this is huge for Jack I’m

Not I’m I’m just going to talk the whole time no you wrote captions to it and it was uh it was just a marvelous moment and again one of many I’ve just been I felt so privileged to be a part of that’s beautiful that’s beautiful and

I I kind of want to go into that direction because feels like that’s where we’re taking it in terms of obstacles and how do you overcome things and you know your battle with cancer and you know my father uh passed in 2013 uh from cancer um and you know just

The awareness that and being able to give yourself to the the entire basketball Community the sports community and be open about you know what you’re going through and then how you’re tackling it uh this thing is very inspirational and a lot of people I think feel those effects and in turn

Like that’s the energy you’re driving and so I wanted to ask you know what advice would you give others who are F who are facing you know obstacles obstacles similar to what you battled with cancer you know that was man that it’s going back so many years because I you

Know the first time I had I’ve had cancer twice and and the first time was 2003 was non hodkin lymphoma and the thing about it you’re kind you’re dealing with this and it was it was a slow growing thing so nobody out there knew what I was dealing with um aside

From some of the folks at Turner and and my family obviously but uh it wasn’t until 2006 when I I started swelling up uh my lymph nodes and that kind of thing and and then you just have to be look people are inviting you into their homes every night and when

Something doesn’t look right people are going to notice and I thought the best way to handle that was just honestly say look this is what is going on I’ve had this for a while now we’ve taken an approach of waiting to see what direction it’s going to take and I’m going to start

Chemotherapy in June and so and I think that allowed people to say rather than just point fingers and say gez what the heck is going on with him it’s like okay we understand and um yeah so I had had chemo and6 for that and and U went into

Remission and and and that’s been you know that’s everything’s been great on that end since 2006 I had prostate cancer a few years ago and took care of that and so uh it’s just we all have stuff fellas I mean everybody out there everybody who’s watching us has stuff

Too and I I never wanted people to think hey look cancer means you got to stop everything no no we’re going to we’re going to fight our way through this and I was kind of you know publicly doing that while dealing with a you know it’s a

Very private situation but I but if it can help people then that’s if somebody can take some inspiration from that or take some kind of a um strength from that it’s great Craig Sager was a great example of that too we saw Craig before he passed you know all he wanted to do

Was be on the sidelines you know there were days where he had chemo in the morning and work a game that night which I couldn’t imagine doing but he did it and the that Amper really sets you out because you just got award recently for uh the you know Award of Excellence for

Uh your help with cancer research and fundraising and uh you know a lot of different philanthropic work how you how have you been able to keep diving into that and make that part of your focal point considering you know such a you know crazy schedule and you have your

Own personal you know uphill battles to struggle with and then overcome yeah yeah Evan I I think it’s um it goes back to something else I I I like to say is that this job is not um who I am it’s what I do you know people can look hey

You’re the TNT guy yeah that’s yeah that’s my job but you know look I’m a I’m a husband I’m a father of six I got five grandkids that’s that’s who I am and um and also who I am is is are the things that that uh that I deal with you

Know you know whether it’s the cancer stuff we talked about or look we Cheryl and I lost a son you know we lost Michael a couple years ago um and he lived this remarkable life of 33 years and eventually it was muscular distrophy that took him from us but but it’s um

Those are the things that make you make you who you are and and what what you must do in my role look I’m on TV but I’ve got to as my dad always said just be yourself and so that’s that’s what I’m going to do you know this is what

I’m this is what I’m going through this is what I feel comfortable sharing that kind of thing and so um again we all have stuff um but not everybody who has stuff is sitting on TV and being in your living room and so you just kind of you got to

Feel your way through that and and and decide what’s appropriate to share and and and how um how you basically handle that so oh yeah bring go ahead both of you go ahead at the same time no no I’m wna he has such great insight and he can

Read the room you know he always has this awareness about him where he just and he can see where things are trending too it feels like to us like you just have a great calmness to you and in the world that we’re in now we saw um Turner being uh brought

Into a conglomerate with Warner Brother Discovery and we’re seeing you know the streaming and how that’s disrupted you know people are cutting cable you know these kids are you know they’re consuming content in a totally different way the Matrix are being you you know rated and they’re being viewed

Differently on how they calculate it all uh where do you see the sports landscape going in terms of how it’s consumed and from are you paying attention to where we’re headed in terms of coverage around Sports which is pretty much what you do and so what do what do

You think the next generation wants to see is because it seems like we’re moving away from you know it’s more it’s more entertaining is more so personalities and it’s like I hope we don’t get away from you know we talk about the where the game’s going and I

Don’t want to get away from the fundamentals of the game I don’t want to get away from the camaraderie of team sport you know I don’t I don’t want to see every night somebody can score 70 because that’s just you know we just shooting shots and there’s no defense

You know like where do you think we’re where do you think we’re headed and how can we save ourselves it’s almost like global warming like at some point we got to reverse this thing like how can we save ourselves from you know getting away from what it was yeah when like ET

Says from when it was lit like what it was intended for because I think we forget that sometimes yeah I mean it’s obviously the landscape is so totally different than when I you know when I started at Turner you know where it was just you know I hope you gather around

Your TV set tonight and there was no I don’t know that there was DVR and that kind of thing it was like if you want to watch your game you better be in front of the set and now things are things are totally different and and streaming has

Changed a lot too and then and then the way that you present the game itself it’s not enough to just do the game anymore now you like the Manning cast and that we’ve done things that during All-Star Weekend where the four of us sit here and watch the game and call it

And I say call it but I’m I’m not really doing play byplay because these guys are arguing about what kind of snacks we’ve got you know and it’s like it’s it’s just it is it’s G like what’s going to be the most entertaining way and what

Are the options and so I think like we haven’t gotten away from hey this year for the All-Star Game we’re not going to do a traditional broadcast we’re just going to do these four clowns watching the game you know it’s it’s just here’s another option for you and so I think

That’s I don’t think that’s a bad thing that that we provide other ways to if you know if this is going to be more entertaining for you than a traditional broadcast okay fine let’s see how that works but um I I don’t even know like

Guys five years from now how we going to be watching games what’s it you know what’s it going to it going to be like I mean and when we do March Madness I’m you know when I’m walking to the studio to to you know when I was doing the New

York Studio I’d be I’d be walking down the street with a Starbucks and watching the game on my phone you know it’s like I never saw any of that coming so I think a lot of the things we didn’t see coming are going to be right in front of

Us you know as a reality in no time especially the way things have things have grown um so much in the last few years and it’s as far as as far as the game goes I don’t know if you know you want to avoid the you know old man you

Know thing like well back in my day they played the game this way the game is played in a different way kids kids grow up watching the game in a different way kids grow up you know kids growing up now saying I guess you got to score I

Guess your team’s got to score 160 to win in the NBA I guess that’s the way it is so I guess it’s got to be you know you better you know hone your game so it’s all offensive I mean I don’t know how many kids grow up anymore thinking

Hey it’s cool to play defense probably zero they’re not pay they not paying for it right now so I know no no you’re you’re exact you’re exactly right and and look social media is I mean the whole that whole landscape you know to consider that part of our show every

Night is throwing in comments from people who are watching you know it used to be because that immediacy your your ability to react um to whatever is set on the air what happens in a game everything’s instantaneous and so at a time there was a time where we said now

We don’t need to put any tweets on or we don’t need to do that and now it’s an integral part of our coverage is is somebody out there said this About You Chuck and boom here we go and and it opens up another Avenue of discussion or clown

It I I got I want to speak to that as well because we’ve seen it a few times where you know as an analyst you have to call the game how you see it and sometimes you have to be critical of a player and how have you seen has that changed

Over time you know I feel like sometimes is as a player is a player sensitive or does a player is he in his right to you know have a have an issue with you know someone overly critiquing him because now we live in a social media world

Where like Jordan p is you know that guy now where at one point it was javil McGee was that guy and it’s like you I understand yes you’re you’re calling the game how you see it you want to play it at the highest level but there is a fine

Line between you know being critical of a guy and using the guy as as a way to you know spark some controversy or or get some a few more likes or you know get some attention sure I mean I but I think again know it’s knowing your role

And from from my standpoint look I can point out maybe a guy’s deficiencies numbers-wise hey look he’s down at three-point percentage hey his you know his plus minus is this hey you know what’s going on but I think player to player when you got Shaq and Kenny and

Chuck look these guys have played the game at the highest level they’ve got championships uh and and so for them to say this is part of his game I think he needs to improve on and I think one of the things Shaq has always said look if

He gets on Jo lmb it’s because he wants Jo lmb to be the best possible player he can be so I think I think um players have to realize that too and none of none of the guys on our show want want to go after somebody you know you can

Certainly look at somebody’s Behavior man and you say okay what’s your take on what johnar you know like johnar situation okay um and and you speak from the heart you speak honestly you know the situation you know the the stories and this is your opinion on it okay that

Should be fine um so I think it it behooves us to know what we know what we’re talking about but also for players to realize look These Guys these guys aren’t against us these guys are paid to analyze and and again if their analysis is going to Spur somebody to say you

Know what he’s probably right I probably do need to get back on defense better I probably do need to run the floor more uh but if you’re going to just take that and say no that’s just old men who don’t understand today’s game then I think

You’re making a mistake I so I guess to lead off on that you guys he’s been on the Gilbert arena show what do you say you never had any crazy NBA players have crazy responses to you but the best three-point shooter in the world what was that young guy’s name Michael uh he

Shot K the jet yeah I saw saw I saw some of that it’s you know it’s not that’s not the way I remembered and I remembered us bringing this guy in and giving him his props for setting this record and then you’re in the studio and you’ve got NBA

Players in there and you’re on Kenny’s Court where Kenny shoots against everybody and and and Kenny knocked down three in a row you know and so I I’m I don’t even want to get into any of all that rehashing of what happened there know I’m sorry that he didn’t enjoy his

Time with us but we certainly had no agenda to say hey let’s let’s really go after this guy no I mean shoot the guy he brought he brought a little kid in that he’d been tutoring on how to play and and the kid beat Shaq in a Free Throw Contest nobody’s talking about

That it was a great moment yeah no that’s true no I will say I say this all the time I know a lot of people that can shoot but I want to see you run down the court fast as you can five times and

Then the fifth time run to a top of the key3 no hesitation and you got to make eight out of 10 now that’s the difference between guys in the league and guys that aren’t in the league and so I don’t have any yeah they’ll be all

Right there the reason why they AR the leag oh yeah that’s for real clowning moments I know y y have a lot of fun make sure you got me okay okay y have a lot of fun on set I think that’s the thing that bring viewers like they it’s like a real homey

Feel like I’m at home I’m relaxing I’m with the guy I can see something that’s just like relatable and there’s a lot of clowning give us some there are so many I don’t know that I can even um I I can’t narrow them all down but I

Mean it’s it’s like back when magic was working with us we were uh we closed the studio to Chuck one night we called the studio the Champions Club so you had to have you had to have a ring to get in to do halftime and we totally surprised him

With that he had no idea it was coming we even had actual like security guards outside the studio in a red carpet so magic magic walks me in and says hey he’s with me he doesn’t have a ring but he’s with me so he can come in Kenny

Walks in with his you know yeah I’ve got a couple with Houston Chuck comes up outside the studio and says so y’all trying to play a trick on the chuckster but he and and that’s that was one of the greatest things I’d ever seen and and that’s what makes it work

Because everybody can hit you know everybody can take it and everybody can dish it out nobody gets their feelings hurt everybody can laugh at themselves and so I I’ve seen enough guys on TV who have NBA resumés who say yeah you can go this far but don’t

Do this I mean we used to weigh Chuck when Chuck was saying he wanted to get down to his uh to his playing weight and on the air live he would get on a scale and and that was early on in in our in our run and so you know it’s that it’s

Diaper changing contests it’s it’s Kenny trying to mimic Kobe’s uh uh commercial about jumping over the uh Aston Martin you know and then we wind up running Kenny down in the parking lot I mean it’s all those things and so um that’s been the great part about the job sure

For the NBA fan for the Die Hard who wants his analysis we’re there for that but we’re also there with the stuff just the other stuff that even if you’re not a huge NBA fan you’re like hey that was that was pretty funny yeah yeah well well we appreciate you appreciate the

Time um you know like you said like you were an integral part of our childhood and just what you do for the game of basketball is is amazing and I think we are all appreciate it we all understand it and uh we just want to thank you and

To many more years of success um we we ET and I will will come into the studio we want to do a internship and see like how what are the ingredients on how to build this special thing that you’ve built and so we would love to continue

To chop it up with you and uh get me on and you’ll give me an excuse to get on a golf course so please please accept uh our our application to be interns yeah that’d be great we’ll have the we’ll have a 35 and a 40y old interns walking around the studio having

Sha and Charles say hey get me this get me that yeah I I don’t know that I don’t know that that’s what you really want out of your life at this point but if but if you’re willing we got a spot for you [ __ ] we’ll be free interns aren’t

Free anymore so they want to get no they are in our place they are in our place they’re [Laughter] free guys thank you much thank you much appreciate you no I appreciate you too thanks and again happy birthday man no thank you I appreci I really I really

Appreciate that I had two folks sing to me one was a rapper and then you gave me your rendition so you I I bet his was better no it wasn’t it wasn’t it wasn’t it really wasn’t it wasn’t enjoyed it guys thank you so much no thank you take care yeah be good

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