TNT was forced to issue an apology after Inside the NBA host Shaquille O’Neal claimed former Portland Trail Blazers player Billy Ray Bates had died.
Spoiler alert – he’s alive.
The error occurred while the crew was discussing playoff debut performances, sparked by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome scoring 28 points off the bench in a Game 1 victory over the Miami Heat. It was the fourth-highest total from a bench player behind Ben Gordon, Malik Monk, and Bates.
Bates dropped 29 points in game one of a playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics. The Trail Blazers, unfortunately, lost the game.
Bates, who is 68, played three seasons in Portland before being cut and spending time briefly with the Washington Bullets and Los Angeles Lakers.
Shaquille O’Neal Said He’s Dead, TNT Quickly Says ‘Oops’
Anyway, during their discussion of impressive past bench performances, Charles Barkley raised eyebrows by openly wondering on-air if Billy Ray Bates was alive.
Co-hosts Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith tore into Barkley over the insensitive comment in front of a national audience.
“(It isn’t a fair question) not unless you know the answer,” Johnson said. “You do not need to ask a question like that.”
That’s when Shaq stepped in and made things infinitely worse.
“He passed away,” O’Neal replied.
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Inexcusable
With all panel members seemingly unsure if Billy Ray Bates was alive or not, TNT issued an apology the next night. After Googling it, apparently.
“We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on Inside the NBA,” Johnson told the audience. “We were talking about Billy Ray Bates, who back in 1980 had one of the 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,” he added. “While it was inadvertent, it was also inaccurate and insensitive, and inexcusable.”
“In short, we screwed up. We apologize to Billy Ray Bates and his family.”
"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.
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 21, 2025
While it was inadvertent, it was also inaccurate and… pic.twitter.com/bUZ5awiBsF
It wasn’t too hard to tell that Johnson was still a little miffed that Barkley and O’Neal wondered about Billy Ray Bates on air.
“Have you ever heard of asking a question during a commercial break? Possibly?” Johnson chided Barkley during the on-air error.
