Inside the NBA is one of the most beloved studio shows in all of sports, in part due to the unapologetic lack of a filter from the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley when it comes to their analysis on things around the NBA. Unfortunately, those same qualities landed the show in hot water on Sunday.
On the postgame coverage of Sunday’s Eastern Conference playoff matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat, a graphic was shown highlighting four players who have scored the most points off the bench in their postseason debut, a list that featured Cavaliers backup guard Ty Jerome.
Billy Ray Bates, who played in the NBA from 1979 to 1983 with the Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Bullets, and Los Angeles Lakers, was also on the list. This prompted Barkley to mention Bates, questioning whether he was still alive.
“I wonder if he is still alive,” said Barkley as he looked at the graphic.
While both Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson were largely condemning Barkley for even asking the question on live television, Shaquille O’Neal interjected by claiming that Bates had died.
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
O’Neal said this despite there being no public information that would suggest that Bates had passed away.
On Monday’s edition of Inside the NBA, ahead of the Game 2 matchup between the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons, we got a positive update of sorts on Bates. Ernie Johnson issued a live apology to Bates’ family on behalf of the entire Inside the NBA cast for the previous night’s comments regarding the former NBA player, who is indeed still alive.
“We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on Inside the NBA. 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.”
“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
Nothing more was said about the matter, as this update from Johnson was followed by an abrupt cut to a commercial break.
The update is obviously appreciated for those who actually believed that Bates had died. But it is interesting that Barkley and O’Neal, who were seemingly most to blame for these false claims coming to light, didn’t have anything else to say about the part they played in the incident.
