Charles Barkley nearly made TNT colleague Ernie Johnson speechless on Thursday by announcing that Johnson was being inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. (Watch the video below.)
The two were in pre-event mode for TNT’s “The Match” featuring a celebrity golf showdown when the Basketball Hall of Famer informed Johnson of the honor out of the blue.
Johnson was briefly stunned into silence. He then said, “Get out of here. Chuckster, what are you talking about?”
When reality set in, Johnson said thank you and that he was “humbled beyond words,” choking up as he noted his 40-plus years in broadcasting.
But the humor that has marked interactions between Johnson and Barkley on “Inside the NBA” didn’t disappear in the moment.
As the team cut to a commercial break, Johnson joked, “And don’t you ever do that again to me, Chuck.”
Later, football stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs defeated basketball stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors in the golf match.
But perhaps the biggest winner was Johnson.
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