Ernest Thorwald Johnson Jr., better known by his stage name, Ernest T. Turner Sports and CBS Sports both employ Ernie as a sports commentator. Aside from hosting Inside the NBA for TNT and contributing to Turner’s and CBS’ combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, he currently serves as MLB’s top television voice on TBS and hosts Inside the NBA.
Ernie Johnson Jr Early Life
He was born in 1956 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as Ernie Johnson Jr. After serving as a play-by-play broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves, Ernie Johnson Sr. served as a pitcher in the Major League Baseball (MLB). Johnson and his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1959, a year after his father announced his retirement from professional baseball.
In 1974, he graduated from Marist Institution, a private Catholic school in Brookhaven, Georgia. On the baseball field, he was a first baseman for the University of Georgia during his freshman year. The year was 1978 when Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree Summa Cum laude.
Read More: Lori Harvey Net Worth 2022: How Income Change Lori Harvey Lifestyle!
Ernie Johnson Jr Net Worth
American sportscaster Ernie Johnson Jr has a net worth of $16 million dollars and an annual salary of $5 million. Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson Jr. hosts the MLB studio on TBS as part of his duties as a sportscaster. TNT and NBA TV’s “Inside the NBA” and CBS Sports’ NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament broadcasts also feature his commentary. In addition to basketball, Johnson provides play-by-play for the PGA Tour.
Ernie Johnson Jr Career
As a young reporter and anchor, Johnson worked for a number of small-town media stations. Even though still a student, he was able to obtain his first job in sports broadcasting while working at WAGQ-FM in Athens, Georgia. After that, in 1979, he was hired as a news anchor at WMAZ-TV in Macon, Georgia, where he worked until 1981. While in Spartanburg, Johnson worked as a news reporter for WSPA-TV, and after that, he returned home and worked as a general assignment reporter for WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1983, he was promoted to weekend sports anchor for that channel.
Read More: Dani Leigh Net Worth: What Will the Singer’s Net Worth Be in 2022?
Coverage of the NBA
Turner Sports hired Erine Johnson in 1989. His postgame show “Inside the NBA” debuted on TNT the following year. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, and occasionally Grant Hill, Draymond Green, and Chris Webber fill in for Johnson in the studio. A number of Sports Emmy Awards have been bestowed upon “Inside the NBA” over the years.
With Chris Webber and Greg Anthony, he co-hosts NBA TV’s “Tuesday Fan Night,” which airs on NBA TV.com. That channel’s “Open Court,” a panel show that has rotating panelists who discuss NBA history, current events, and other topics, is hosted and moderated by him as well. Johnson also appears on TNT, NBA TV, and CBS Sports’ combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Coverage of Other Sports
Over the course of his career, Johnson has covered a variety of other sports. From 1993 through 1996, he and his father called Atlanta Braves baseball games for SportSouth, where he worked as an analyst. Johnson and Cal Ripken Jr. hosted MLB coverage on TBS from 2007 through 2009. After that, he became the network’s lead play-by-play announcer for MLB playoff coverage. Meanwhile, he covered countless Atlanta Braves games for Peachtree TV, the station’s sister station. TNT’s coverage of the PGA Tour features Johnson as the network’s play-by-play announcer.
One of Johnson’s many other roles was as a TNT studio presenter for Wimbledon from 2000 to 2002, and he also hosted NFL coverage from 1990 to 1997. As a play-by-play announcer for the speed skating events at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics, Johnson has a wealth of international experience. From 2002 to 2006, he was the primary announcer for “Golf on TNT,” the network’s flagship golf show. Since 2010, he has been the play-by-play announcer for “MLB on TBS,” which he joined as a studio presenter in 2008.
Read More: Shaquille O’neal Net Worth 2022 : The Greatest Basketball Player of All Time!
Ernie Johnson Jr Personal Life
Johnson has five children with his wife, Cheryl, a psychotherapist. While Carmen, Ashley, and Allison were given up for adoption by the couple as children, Eric and Maggie are their biological children. It was in 2021 that another youngster, Michael, succumbed to a severe form of muscular dystrophy. Christian groups like Athletes in Action and Fellowship of Christian Athletes often work with Johnson, despite the fact that he was raised Catholic.
Johnson was told he had non-lymphoma Hodgkin’s in 2003 and underwent treatment. He continued to work until the end of June 2006, when he had to miss the final two major golf tournaments of the year due to his treatment for the disease. Johnson resumed him “Inside the NBA” duties in October, despite the fact that he was still undergoing chemotherapy. Later in 2018, he was diagnosed with blood clots in both of his legs, preventing him from appearing on TBS’s coverage of the Major League Baseball postseason.