Inside the NBA forced to apologize for wrongly claiming former playoff star was dead
Ernie Johnson was forced to apologize on behalf of 'Inside the NBA' after Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal claimed that Portland Trail Blazers playoff star Billy Ray Bates had died
Ernie Johnson and the 'Inside the NBA' crew were forced to apologize after erroneously claiming that Portland Trail Blazers playoff star Billy Ray Bates had died.
Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks took on Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference matchup in Madison Square Garden, with gymnastics star Sunisa Lee in attendance to cheer on the home team as they looked to go up 2-0 in the series.
Before the game, however, Johnson was forced to apologize to Bates and his family after the crew of Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith claimed that the former Trail Blazers star had died. After a commercial break, the camera showed Johnson, who apologized on behalf of the TNT Sports crew. It comes after another sports legend admitted "my generation's time is up" in a heartbreaking health update.
"We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on 'Inside the NBA,'" Johnson began as he issued his apology over the Bates error. "We were talking about Billy Ray Bates, who back in 1980 had one of the NBA's best playoff debuts coming off the bench with 29 points.
"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."
The discussion Johnson is referring to occurred as he, O'Neal, Barkley and Smith were talking about players who scored the most points off the bench in their playoff debut. Among the names on the list were Malik Monk, who scored 32 points in 2023; Ben Gordon, scoring 30 points in 2005; Bates' 29 points in 1980; and Ty Jerome, who poured in 28 points against the Miami Heat in this year's playoffs.
As Smith and Johnson were talking about Bates, Barkley chimed in and pondered: "I wonder if he's still alive. This is a fair question." Johnson was quick to reply: "Not unless you know the answer, you do not need to ask a question like that."
After a few moments of back-and-forth conversation between the four of them, O'Neal then stated that Bates did indeed pass away. Johnson and Smith then continued to chide Barkley for asking the question at the wrong time, with the former stating that the former NBA star should have asked during a commercial break.
Fans on social media were quick to criticize Barkley and the rest of the team for how they chose to run with the story of Bates being dead, as opposed to doing quick research. The consensus was that the crew hastily concluded he had died.
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Still, Bates remains one of the most prolific playoff scorers in league history, despite having a relatively short career in the NBA. During his career, the 68-year-old played for the Trail Blazers, the then-Washington Bullets, and the Los Angeles Lakers before spending the rest of his career playing in the Philippine Basketball Association.
In six playoff games for the Trail Blazers from 1980 and 1981, Bates averaged 26.7 points in 36.5 minutes per game. Of note, his highest scoring average in the regular season was during the 1980-81 season, which saw him score 13.8 points per game in 20.3 minutes a night.