An emotional Charles Barkley choked up with tears as he and his co-panelists addressed Ernie Johnson's departure from Inside the NBA on Wednesday night. 

Johnson, the legendary host of the beloved NBA program, announced that he would be leaving his role on the show at the end of the 2026 NBA season earlier on Wednesday. 

Later on Wednesday night, during the first show since Johnson's announcement, Barkley and his fellow analysts, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith addressed the anchor's pending departure. 

Barkley in particular was left emotional as he fought back the tears while praising his longtime colleague. 

'That was tough,' Barkley said in a hoarse tone. 'We knew the day was coming. It's still tough. 

'I've been here for 26, 27 years, and it's been an honor and a privilege to work with you all this time. Kenny and Shaq, and the amazing people behind the scenes. Nothing like it. To be able to dribble a stupid basketball and get rich and famous, and then come here and get paid to watch the best players in the world.'

He added: 'I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being our leader for all these years. Man, it's still, even though I knew it was coming, it's still hard brother.' 

At Barkley's tear-jerking speech, Johnson and the rest of the crew also became choked up. 

'Chuckster, that means the world,' Johnson said. 'I was holding everything together pretty well today.'

Smith then rose to his feet and led a standing ovation for Johnson, who attempted to quell the emotions as he insisted that there was still a season of basketball before he bows out.

Johnson, 70, has just started his 37th season anchoring the hit show alongside O'Neal, Barkley and Smith.

After over three decades on TNT Sports, Johnson and co. moved over to ESPN/ABC at the start of last year, a season culminating in a historic New York Knicks Championship.

Johnson will now spend one last year leading the studio show before spending more time with his wife and grandchildren - though he insists he is not retiring and will still appear during March Madness and sporadically on other shows.

And in an emotional farewell video posted on social media, he revealed he faced a secret health battle after undergoing a heart bypass last offseason.

Johnson previously battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the early 2000s, continuing work until he started undergoing treatment in 2006 and remaining on Inside the NBA while facing chemotherapy.