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Kenny Smith is the voice of reason on Inside the NBA.
The former Tar Heel All-American and two-time NBA champion is the glue that holds his loose cannon compatriots together on the Emmy-winning basketball studio show that will move from TNT to ESPN.
With Turner television losing its broadcast rights to NBA games, the cast of characters will be on ESPN telecasts next season. The popular host of the pre-game, halftime and post-game show Ernie Johnson plays traffic cop to the wild ramblings of Charles Barkley and understated giant Shaquille O’Neil. Kenny the Jet is the true content leader who explains the game better than anyone else on TV.
Smith, who’s in the best shape of his sidekicks, will jog to the massive video board at the back of the studio set to explain plays he selected during the first half and like he was as a heady point guard for the Tar Heels gives commentary that we can all understand.
After the absolutely incredible first game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday night, when the Indiana Pacers came back from 14 points down in the last two minutes to beat the New York Knicks in overtime, Smith explained that it had to be more than the Pacers’ miraculous three-point shooting down the stretch of regulation that stunned the Madison Square Garden crowd.
While the rally was, indeed, astounding, Smith said it could never have happened without both teams contributing. Yes, while the Pacers scored 51 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and wound up sinking 15 three-pointers, the Jet reminded viewers it never could have happened without the Knicks making fatal mistakes on both ends of the court.
They let Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith fuel the comeback with eight 3-pointers, the only way a team can cut such a huge deficit with so little time remaining. When the Knicks should have been giving the Pacers any two-point baskets they wanted, their overplaying defense enabled Nesmith and Tyrese Halliburton to get open for long balls that panicked the Garden crowd and its team.
All Barkley, the clown-prince, could do was say how lucky they are to get paid for being there, watching the game and babbling on after it is over. Barkley is shallow in his analysis but very funny, which is the main reason he makes millions to do the show. The gargantuan Shaq takes up little space with occasional comments. Johnson, the former Braves baseball announcer and celebrated cancer survivor, tries his best to keep everyone in his lane.
When NBC won the bid for TNT’s share of games starting next season, we thought Inside the NBA was done. But after pressure from viewers who are duly entertained, TNT licensed the award-winning show to Disney where it will air in 2025-26. Smith was not involved in the negotiations and wonders aloud how ESPN will change it.
So do we, Jet, so do we.
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Featured image via Warner Brothers/Discovery Sports
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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