It is best to leave some questions unquestioned, especially on national television.
During “Inside the NBA” on Sunday, Charles Barkley asked if former Trail Blazers, Bullet and Lakers guard Billy Ray Bates was still alive.
And that’s when everything went south quickly, when co-analysis Shaquille O’Neill later said, “He’s gone.”
There’s only one problem. Bates is alive.
Mayhem began after the graphics aired, showing that Tygerome’s 28 points ranked fourth in NBA history in Game 1 in Cleveland for a reserve player.
“Billie Ray Bates was built like a truck,” Kenny Smith said.
“Is he still alive? That’s a fair question,” Berkley said before waiting a moment before his co-host was digesting what he said. “That’s a fair question.”
Bates is still alive at age 68, and Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith cheated Berkley as insensitive to asking if someone is still alive in front of millions of people.
“(That’s not a fair question) unless you know the answer,” Johnson said. “There’s no need to ask such a question.”
And that’s when O’Neal provided some misinformation.
“He’s gone,” O’Neill said.
No hosts seemed to know if O’Neill was right or wrong, so the focus returned to Johnson, and Smith scolded Berkley with questions.
“Have you heard of any questions you ask during a commercial break? Perhaps?” Johnson said before Smith continued digging into Berklee. “Social skills.”
Berkley then apologises for his comments, and one day Johnson apologizes further for killing a man who was not dead.
“We would like to issue an amendment and an apology for what happened “inside the NBA” last night. Back in 1980, we were talking about Billy Raybates, who put one of the NBA’s best playoff debuts off the bench with 29 points,” Johnson said. “In the course of our discussion, we handed over some bad information that Billy Ray Bates had passed away. It was careless, but inaccurate and insensible, and we could make excuses. In short, we apologise to Billy Ray Bates and his family.”
Bates, 68, is six years older than Berkley.
Bates’ big game came in a 120-110 Game 1 defeat for Super Sonics.
Bates averaged 25 points per game from the bench of the series, with Seattle winning in three games.
He averaged 11.7 points in his short career from 1979 to 83.
“Inside the NBA” is best known for such rude, imaginary, non-script style sports talk, but this time it’s gone too far.
The show is scheduled to move to ESPN after the 2026 season when Warner Bros. and TNT stop broadcast basketball.
