Long before the current Superman beef between Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal-we already had a Black Superman. Billy Ray Bates dominated in the Philippines league, but his NBA story was short, with just 98 games. Despite that short stay, his energetic style and dunks were a crowd favorite. But last night, the surrounding conversation became awkward thanks to the Inside the NBA crew. It started with Charles Barkley asking a sensitive question and later misinformation from Shaquille O’Neal.
So, today, on the recent broadcast of the show, they corrected their stance and sent an apology. “We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on Inside the NBA.” Ernie Johnson, the man who runs the tight ship with three former players turned analysts, regretted being insensitive on live TV.
“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.” So, what happened that led to this debacle from the crew?
“We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on Inside the NBA. … 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… pic.twitter.com/bUZ5awiBsF
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 21, 2025
We have previously seen the crew being over the cuff with players’ analysis. But this time the situation was totally different. It all started during a light segment about playoff bench scoring. Charles Barkley, in his usual casual tone, brought up Bates. “Billy Ray Bates, man. I remember him.” What followed was unexpected. “I wonder if he’s still alive.” This question led to a pin-drop silence moment on the set, as nobody knew what to follow up with.
Shaquille O’Neal provided an answer as Charles Barkley apologized
After Chuck’s question, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith said some questions should have been discussed before. But Shaq’s answer just turned the entire situation even more worse. “Unfortunately, he passed away.” Yes, O’Neal made the mistake about announcing that Billy Ray Bates had passed away. But as we know, that is not the fact. After Shaq’s statement, one would think the conversation would end, but that wasn’t the case.
Charles Barkley defended himself, saying he didn’t mean harm. “I just asked a question,” he said. But once again, Kenny Smith reminded his co-analyst that the remark was insensitive. “You ever heard of ‘koof’? The word? You don’t have any,” Jet added. The word means someone lacking common sense. After this, Chuck realized what he may have said, so he apologized yesterday.
“Oh, forgive me. Forgive me, y’all.” Since the damage was already done, and there was no clarity about Shaq’s comment about Billy Ray Bates’ passing away. That’s why Inside the NBA and Ernie Johnson had to deliver an apology today and clear up any misunderstanding. Apart from that, a sincere apology was also needed, and Ernie Johnson delivered on Shaq and Barkley.
The post After Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal’s Blunder, Inside the NBA Corrects Its Stance on Billy Ray Bates appeared first on EssentiallySports.