‘Inside the NBA’ Apologizes for Wrongly Saying Former NBA Player Was Dead

Andy Nesbitt | Apr 22, 2025

Ernie Johnson apologized for the comments made about Billy Ray Bates on "Inside the NBA." / @TNT

The Inside the NBA crew is arguably the best studio show in sports because they often fly by the seat of their pants and you never know what Charles Barkley and Shaq are going to say next.

Well, sometimes that backfires and leads to embarrassing moments. That's exactly what happened in Sunday's show when Shaq claimed that former NBA guard Billy Ray Bates was dead when he is in fact alive, which led to Ernie Johnson making an apology to Bates and his family on Monday night.

This all happened during a discussion about Atlanta Hawks guard Ty Jerome scoring 28 points while coming off the bench in his playoff debut. Bates is No. 3 on the list, as he scored 29 points off the bench in his playoff debut in 1980.

Charles Barkley asked an awkward question about Bates, saying: "I wonder if he's still alive."

After some silence from the crew, Ernie Johnson said that's not a question Barkley should be asking on live TV. Then Shaq chimed in by saying Bates had passed away.

Charles Barkley was scolded on 'Inside the NBA' for asking if Billy Ray Bates is still alive. pic.twitter.com/c3QID1DRNy

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2025

Bates is still alive. Here is Johnson's apology:

"In the course of our discussion, we passed on some bad information that Billy Ray Bates had passed away. While it was inadvertent, it was also inaccurate, and insensitive, and inexcusable. In short, we screwed up. And we apologize to Billy Ray Bates and his family."

"In the course of our discussion, we passed on some bad information that Billy Ray Bates had passed away. While it was inadvertent, it was also inaccurate, & insensitive, & inexcusable. In short, we screwed up. And we apologize to Billy Ray Bates and his family." - Ernie Johnson https://t.co/aCPh2ARrEP pic.twitter.com/AHbTB04FM8

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2025

Hopefully something like this doesn't happen again.

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