Ernie Johnson Jr., a name synonymous with sports broadcasting excellence, has graced our screens with his insightful commentary and unparalleled charisma for decades. Born on August 7, 1956, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Johnson’s journey to becoming one of the most respected voices in sports journalism is as inspiring as the stories he shares with millions of viewers worldwide. With a career spanning over four decades, Johnson’s passion for sports and unwavering dedication to his craft have cemented his status as a beloved figure in the industry.
From his humble beginnings as a sports journalist to his current role as the host of Inside the NBA on TNT, Ernie Johnson Jr. has continuously demonstrated his knack for delivering memorable quotes that resonate with sports fans across generations. Whether it’s his poignant reflections on the game, his heartfelt anecdotes about his colleagues, or his witty commentary on the lighter side of sports, Johnson’s words have the power to captivate audiences and leave a lasting impression. Below, you’ll find a collection of some of Ernie Johnson Jr.’s most memorable quotes, each one a testament to his unparalleled talent and enduring legacy in the world of sports broadcasting.
You may hate the pilot but you don’t want the plane to crash. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I was a fan of the NCAA Tournament and watching when I could, but now I have files on over a 120 college teams that I have been building on over the last few years. Ernie Johnson Jr.
You’re more apt to criticize an NBA player than you are a college players. Some of these guys are freshmen. They are learning the game. The other guys have taken it to the biggest stage there is. That’s the NBA. So they are going to get more heat if they don’t perform. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’ve been called a point guard, I’ve been called a traffic cop, I’ve been called a ringmaster, a lion tamer, whatever. And I guess the thing about the traffic cop is I’m more of a rogue traffic cop because a good traffic cop doesn’t want any fender benders. Ernie Johnson Jr.
We’re blessed we’re working in sports, it’s all fun and I never lose the fact there are three billion guys out there who would take my job in a second. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I grew up going to Catholic school and I was altar boy even going back to the days where the altar boys had to learn the Latin clergy for mass. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I don’t work for a sports network, per se. I’m on once a week for the NBA and then we only do a handful of golf events – the PGA, the British and the Grand Slam. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I mean, it just seems to me that everybody wants to get on each other, everybody wants to attack everybody. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I understand any time you mention Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Jesus Christ in the same two minutes, people are going to talk. Ernie Johnson Jr.
A lot of times the interview relies not so much on the interviewee, but on the interviewer. Ernie Johnson Jr.
That’s real life, what is at home. Ernie Johnson Jr.
What doing baseball means to me is it’s a real touchpoint with my late father. This is what he did for thirty years. I was fortunate to share the booth with my dad for four seasons in the 1990s, so every time I do a game, it’s a way to honor him. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m a coffee guy but I don’t think I’ve had a full cup of coffee. I’ll grab one and then I’ll have a few sips of it then go back to work and it’s cold then I’ll throw that away and go back later and get another one. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Sometimes early in my career I thought what I did was who I was. As you mature, I’ve learned that is not the case. This is what I do, this is not who I am. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Baseball has been in my blood for a long, long time. Ernie Johnson Jr.
My sister and mom are both cancer survivors. If they’re going to whip it, so am I. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I was a news anchor in Macon for a year and a half, and a news reporter for exactly one year in Spartanburg before they hired me at the ABC affiliate WSD in Atlanta. Ernie Johnson Jr.
What can I ask the owner that I won’t ask the GM that I won’t ask the coach that I won’t ask a player? I want to get something for the viewers at home. Ernie Johnson Jr.
You can salute the flag. You can revere the flag. You can respect the flag. And all of those are fine. What you cannot do is use the flag as a blindfold. You can’t use the flag as a blindfold and not see the things you’ve seen with your very eyes that tell you that what’s keeping this country held back is systemic racism. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I listen to everything. My playlists are wide-ranging. I listen to classic rock, gospel, Christian, soul. Ernie Johnson Jr.
The fans at home want to hear what LeBron or Kevin Durant or Steve Kerr has to say. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m a Christian. I follow a guy named Jesus, you might have heard of him. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I never had brothers. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I just wish Twitter was used in a more positive way. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I like the Slam Dunk contest when it’s good. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I was hopeful and I was encouraged that there will be a difference between the President Trump and the campaigning Trump. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I used to let my job define who I was. I like this version of me now, the one that values his job but doesn’t put it at the top of the heap. Ernie Johnson Jr.
No one cares what I think about a 6-foot putt. They care what Ian Baker-Finch thinks. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I try to stay out of the way unless I’m really needed. Ernie Johnson Jr.
If I ever complain about my job, hit me with a rubber hose. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Be on time for James Dolan – no excuses like Zebras in the road. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I believe whoever is in the White House, God is in charge. That’s me. And I voiced that on TV. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I used to work in Macon, Georgia and Spartanburg, South Carolina where the studio was about half the size of your living room. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Some people say doing a studio show and doing play by play are two totally different animals. And to an extent, that’s true. Ernie Johnson Jr.
My favorite player back then was Joe Adcock. I don’t know why he was my favorite player. He just was. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I sat in the back of the broadcast booth for ages watching my dad do his job. And not just watching how he did his job, but how he interacted with people and how he regarded his job. Ernie Johnson Jr.
There are just certain nuances of the game that cannot be defined by stats and that’s why you can’t rely on them. That’s why Popeye Jones was Charles Barkley’s biggest headache, not Kevin McHale. That’s why Big Country Reeves is the guy who ate Shaquille O’Neal alive. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I hesitate to ever, as one dad, tell another dad how to raise their kids. Ernie Johnson Jr.
As it turns out, because of the kind of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma I had, there was no need for treatment right away. So I could continue to keep working and doing my thing until it got to the time where my oncologist and I determined it was time for treatment. Ernie Johnson Jr.
You have to be intentional about slowing down and not rushing to your next meeting. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I listen to a little bit of hip-hop, but I mainly go back to what was big when I was at the University of Georgia in the ’70s. I’m a big Emerson, Lake & Palmer guy, a big Jackson Browne guy, the soundtrack of college. Ernie Johnson Jr.
There were trust issues with Hillary Clinton I couldn’t get past, and there was this inflammatory rhetoric from Donald Trump, which to me was incomprehensible and indefensible. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I never know from one election to the next who’s going to be in office, but I know who’s on the throne. And I’m on this earth because God created me. And that’s who I answer to. Ernie Johnson Jr.
It’s fun to go to a job where you know you’re going to laugh before the day is over. Ernie Johnson Jr.
What I’ve always tried to do, whether it’s the NBA or baseball or golf, is be charged with getting the color. Ernie Johnson Jr.
If you feel like your voice is going, you have to have hot tea and honey and plenty of water. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I was a baseball player growing up and wanted to play ball. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m not the guy who’s been in the huddle with 1.7 seconds left to go. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I work on the show every day, even when we aren’t on the air. I’m compiling quotes from around the league, digging through clips. ‘Chris Paul said this, that might spark a good conversation.’ I’m looking at numbers, offensive and defensive efficiency. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Less is always more in a playoff game. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m the TV guy trying to get us from point A to point B to point C. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m going to pray for Donald Trump. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Preparation is the lifeblood of this job. It’s a non-stop process. You’re always working ahead. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Chris Webber used to be a wonderful guest to have in. Very loose, and a lot of fun. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I think Kobe Bryant was great. Ernie Johnson Jr.
You really don’t consider it work when you are doing what you like to do. Ernie Johnson Jr.
At times, I was a little full of myself too. That wasn’t the way my dad taught me and I had to change. Ernie Johnson Jr.
If I were doing any better I’d be jealous of myself. Ernie Johnson Jr.
There was a time in my life that I thought prayer did not matter either. There was a time earlier in my life where I did not give God a second thought. Ernie Johnson Jr.
If you focus your thoughts on what you do have and not what you don’t have you will always be grateful. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Our family life is a circus without a net. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I believe people can change and I believe through the power of prayer, God can change people and people’s outlooks. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I actually covered a fire once at the apartment complex where I was living. Ernie Johnson Jr.
When you’ve got people taking opposite positions just to create a debate, viewers can see through it. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I love watching players who, you know when you go to see them, everything is going to be left out on the floor. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I started broadcasting in 1977 in radio and 1979 on TV. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Oak Hill is a classic golf course. There aren’t a lot of tricks to it. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I kind of like the three-point shoot-out. It’s very easy to understand, very simple. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Calling Jack Nicklaus’s last trip to St. Andrews was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I love a place packed with history. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Dad liked to self-deprecatingly joke about his career, but Ernie Johnson was a pretty darn good relief pitcher. Ernie Johnson Jr.
This is baseball, this is in my blood, this is what I grew up with. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Golf teaches you about yourself. You haven’t got anyone else to blame when things go wrong. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I am a dad who happens to be a sportscaster. Not the other way around. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I remember all the old catwalks and stuff at County Stadium. Ernie Johnson Jr.
There was a time I worshipped at the altar of Rudy Martzke. Ernie Johnson Jr.
There’s no act. That’s the whole Charles Barkley package. That’s why people like him. Ernie Johnson Jr.
You can recognize that you’ve been gifted in certain ways and be very thankful for that, but it doesn’t mean that you brag about it. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Every time I do a game on TBS, I wear these: my dad’s cuff links from 1958. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I loved all sports growing up. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Nobody is going to tune in to see what I think about the NBA. Ernie Johnson Jr.
Life is a blink. It really is, it zips right past you. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m praying for America, and I’m praying that one day we’ll look back and we’re going to say, ‘You know what, that Donald Trump presidency… it was all right.’ Ernie Johnson Jr.
I’m the worst guy to ever talk about ratings and number of households watching. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I thought I’d be an English teacher and a baseball coach somewhere. Ernie Johnson Jr.
On the NBA show we are dealing with millionaires. On the college level we are dealing with some teenagers. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I had the world’s greatest childhood. I used to hang around by the batting cage and have Hank Aaron ask me how my Little League team was doing. Ernie Johnson Jr.
I had kind of written the script for my life, I thought. I had the great job, great wife and a boy and a girl and then here’s this script that we’re following and suddenly adoption comes into the picture. That was the huge unscripted moment in my life which led to many, many others. Ernie Johnson Jr.