Ernie Johnson, Jr - Class of 2019 Inductee
Channel: Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
Date: 2019-03-06

Ernie Johnson, Jr. followed his father into the world of sports broadcasting eventually creating a legacy of his own. Johnson, Jr. was raised in Atlanta and attended Marist School in Brookhaven. He enrolled at the University of Georgia and graduated in 1978 summa cum laude with a B.A. from the Henry Grady School of Journalism. He began his broadcasting career at WMAZ-TV in Macon, Georgia as a news anchor until 1981, when he moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina to work as a news reporter at WSPA-TV. He moved back to Georgia in 1982, working at WSB-TV in Atlanta as a general assignment reporter and later becoming the station's weekend sports anchor and reporter in 1983. Johnson, Jr. then joined Turner Sports in 1989. 

From 1993 to 1996, he called Atlanta Braves baseball games with his father and fellow Georgia Sports Hall of Famer, Ernie Johnson, Sr. 

Johnson, Jr. is the lead announcer for Turner’s coverage of both Major League Baseball and the PGA Championship. He’s worked various other sporting events including Wimbledon, the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympic Games, the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, and the World Cup. 

Johnson, Jr. also contributes to the joint coverage of the NCAA Tournament for Turner and CBS. He’s also been the host of Inside the NBA since 1990 where he appears alongside basketball greats Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. Johnson, Jr. has won three Sports Emmy Awards for his time hosting Inside the NBA.

In 2003, Johnson, Jr. was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and publicly battled the disease leading to its remission in 2006. Being a devout Christian, he works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Athletes in Action (AIA), Samaritan's Feet and is also active in the Muscular Dystrophy Association.