Charles Barkley vowed to leave 'Inside the NBA' with Ernie Johnson, who says this season is his last

Charles Barkley said in September that his time on "Inside the NBA" ends when Ernie Johnson's does. On Wednesday, Johnson said this season will be his last.

"I'm hoping the show keeps going on ESPN, but if Ernie retires, I'm done," Barkley said on "The Bill Simmons Podcast," as quoted by USA Today. "We're a package deal. I got so much love and respect for that guy. If he says he's done, I'm gone."

Barkley said in the same interview that Johnson had asked him to stay two more years and that he agreed. "So, right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year, 100%," he said.

Johnson, 70, announced his decision in a video Wednesday afternoon. "This will be my last season," he said. "Totally my decision. It's just time." He pointed to the daily preparation the job demands and to heart problems that led to bypass surgery 14 months ago.

The crew dealt with the news at the top of Wednesday's ESPN broadcast. Barkley, who joined the show in 2000, struggled to get through it. "We knew today was coming, it was still tough," he said, according to Sporting News. "It's been an honor and a privilege to work with you all this time."

He said the question he hears most is whether Johnson is as good a person as he seems. "I say, 'Man, he's better than that,'" Barkley said. "I just want to say thank you for being our leader for all these years."

Kenny Smith compared working with Johnson to walking into the Houston Rockets' locker room for the first time, and Shaquille O'Neal said the chance to work with Johnson helped persuade him to join the show, Yahoo Sports reported.

Nobody said Wednesday what happens to the other three. USA Today reported no definitive statements on the futures of Barkley, Smith or O'Neal, and the reported comments from the show have Barkley thanking Johnson without addressing his own plans. If Barkley holds to what he told Simmons, this is the last season of the four-man desk that has been together since O'Neal joined in 2011.