Adam Lefkoe, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal opened Inside the NBA with somber news about Ernie Johnson and his family Thursday night.

Filling in for the longtime host of Inside the NBA, Lefkoe informed the audience Johnson was absent after his sister Christine died from cancer this week at the age of 72.

“Tonight we are going to pause for a moment to step away from basketball and we’re going to send our deepest condolences to a friend and mentor Ernie Johnson,” Lefkoe said before informing the audience Christine Johnson had passed away following a courageous battle with cancer.

“Ernie is the leader of our family and our family leader is going through pain…”

The Fellas send their love and condolences to the Johnson family, who mourns the lost of Ernie’s sister, Christine Johnson. pic.twitter.com/ECYHQxCTnT

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 19, 2024

“He’s the family leader. We’re a team around here,” Barkley added. I feel saddest for Ernie, (his wife) Cheryl and his entire family. I felt the same way when Kenny’s mom passed away, I felt the same way when Shaq’s sister passed away…Ernie’s the leader of our family and our family leader is going through pain. Man, we love you, we miss you, and you stay at home and take care of your family.”

“We definitely feel his pain. I definitely feel his pain,” O’Neal said. “We’re brothers. We feel the hurt. When I got the text, it made me shed a tear… we’re definitely hurting for you, Ernie. We love you. Take your time coming back. We miss you.”

“When I received the information, I started thinking about the birth of his grandchildren, all of the positive things that I’ve seen happy in his family as well,” Smith added to offer a different perspective. “You’re with someone over two and a half decades, you get to see weddings, you get to see births, you get to see grandchildren born and all of that in the same realm. You have to take some of the bad, but there’s been a lot of good.”

No television show exemplifies being a family on and off-air better than Inside the NBA. It’s why sports fans have such an affinity and true love for the cast and show. And Ernie Johnson being their leader and mentor is undoubtedly one of the main reasons why they’ve been able to reach a level of chemistry that no other show portrays.

[Inside the NBA]