Kenny Smith
Encyclopedia
Kenneth "The Jet" Smith (born March 8, 1965) is a retired National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 player and current TV basketball analyst, primarily for Inside the NBA
Inside the NBA
Inside the NBA is the five-time Emmy Award-winning postgame show for NBA on TNT broadcasts. The program features host Ernie Johnson with analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and starting in 2011, they will be joined by Shaquille O'Neal...

on TNT.

Early life

Smith was born in Queens, New York, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and attended Archbishop Molloy High School
Archbishop Molloy High School
Archbishop Molloy High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9-12, located on in the Briarwood section of Queens in New York City, thirty minutes east of Manhattan. Molloy currently has an endowment of about $6,000,000 . The school's current principal is Br...

. He then played basketball at the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...

.

Career

Smith was selected by the Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 with the sixth pick of the 1987 NBA Draft
1987 NBA Draft
The 1987 Draft of the National Basketball Association was held on June 22, 1987 in New York City, New York.This draft is notable for the selection of two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen. Other notable selections include Reggie Miller, Kevin...

. He played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...

, Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...

, Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

, Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

, and Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...

. In his professional career, Smith scored 9,397 points and recorded 4,073 assists. He won two NBA championships with the Rockets in 1994 and 1995. In the first game of the 1995 Finals against the Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

, Smith made seven three-pointers, including a game-tying shot which sent the game into overtime. The Rockets won the game 120–118.

Smith joined Turner Sports
Turner Sports
Turner Sports is the division of Turner Broadcasting System responsible for sports broadcasts on Turner channels including TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and for operating the interactive properties , , , and...

 in 1998. He has teamed with Ernie Johnson, Jr. and Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley
Charles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...

 on Inside the NBA, a winner of the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show
Outstanding Studio Show
The Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show was first awarded in 1988. One sports studio show, whether a pregame or a nightly news show, was honored each year...

. Smith has been described as a " straight man
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...

" to Barkley, known for his offbeat antics. He occasionally appears on NBA TV
NBA TV
NBA TV is a television specialty channel that is dedicated to showcasing the sport of basketball in the United States. The network is financially backed by the National Basketball Association , which also uses NBA TV as a way of advertising their out of market package NBA League Pass, and partner...

 as an analyst. He also served as an analyst during the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C....

.

Smith married model Gwendolyn Osborne on September 8, 2006.

External links

  • KennyTheJet.com, official website of Kenny Smith Boys & Girls Basketball Camp
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