The 'Inside the NBA' cast offering a tribute to Greg Gumbel Photo Credit: TNT

Over the past week, countless figures in sports media offered their tributes for the late Greg Gumbel, a true pioneer of sports media who lost his battle with cancer at the age of 78. And on Thursday, the Inside the NBA cast honored Gumble by sharing stories of their experiences with him and discussing his legacy as a broadcaster.

Gumbel worked at nearly every major network over the course of his illustrious career, helping him become a beloved figure in the industry. But the Inside the NBA crew has its own unique set of experiences with Gumbel, having served on Turner’s March Madness coverage alongside him since 2011.

With that in mind, each of the members of the Inside the NBA cast had plenty to say when it came to both Greg Gumbel as a broadcaster and simply as a person.

Charles Barkley started things off by detailing how “kind and honorable” of a man Gumbel was, along with their shared love of The Rolling Stones.

“You know Ernie, when you meet legends, and Greg has been a legend for 50 years, and they are just as nice as you hope and thought they would be… I’m gonna miss his jokes. The second thing is, I’ve seen The Eagles probably 40 times. And he says, ‘I’ve seen The Rolling Stones 75 times.’ And I said Greg, one of my goals in life. I want to see The Rolling Stones. He said ‘Just let me know any time you want to go.’

“Between the jokes and him bragging about The Rolling Stones man… he was just a kind and honorable man. I’ve known his brother Bryant for a long time. Getting to know him just because of March Madness. When I got that text last week, it just kinda ruined my New Year. Going into the New Year. Rest in peace Greg and thank you for being the consummate pro and gentleman.”

Ernie Johnson then spoke to Gumbel’s professionalism, explaining how simple Gumbel made the incredibly hectic nature of the NCAA Tournament look during coverage.

“When we heard we were going to be doing March Madness, the first thing I did was reach out and sit down with Greg and talking about what exactly is this,” said Ernie Johnson. “Because it looks like mayhem and it looks like chaos and you make it look like there is nothing to it. That’s the way he did it. He never did it by drawing attention to himself. He just did his job. And he was a pro’s pro.”

Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley then went on to detail how he saw a lot of comparisons between Gumbel and Ernie Johnson.

“The first person I reached out to (when Gumble passed) was Clark Kellogg,” said Barkley. “Well, I reached out to Bryant first obviously. But man, Clark is such a wonderful person. I felt like when I got there. You know the way we feel about you, Ernie? I guess Clark felt the same way about Greg. I had some texts from people at CBS. Like, it hurt a lot.”

“For me, it hits a little different Ernie,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “I was a high-level juvenile delinquent. Of course, I watched guys like you (Ernie Johnson), Dick Vitale, Bryant, and Greg. When you get interviewed by fine gentlemen like yourself, you know that you have made it. So the fact that I was interviewed by him a couple of times, was able to call him a friend and know him, my condolences to his family. He reminds me of you, just a fine, young gentleman.”

Kenny Smith offered his experience of working with him more from a fan perspective, detailing how he got chills the first time he ever worked alongside Gumbel on March Madness coverage.

“The most memorable day for me was the first,” said Smith. “Because just like I would imagine someone sitting here when you (Ernie Johnson) opens the show. When he opened it up, I’m even getting them now, I got chills hearing his voice. I was like, ‘Oh, this is real. This isn’t fake. I’m actually in this.’ It gives you an elevated feeling that this is important. He gave importance. You feel different when you hear that voice.”

As accomplished as the Inside the NBA cast is, the way that they speak about being starstruck working with Gumbel shows just how respected of a personality he was and just how much his legacy will live on within those who had the pleasure of working with him.

[NBA on TNT]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.