Kenny Smith NBA Champion, Inside the NBA, analyst, UNC hooper, never-told stories with MJ, Dean Smith wisdom, Rockets championships, Shaq & Barkley, Wemby, playing in Jordan era, on silence being loudest voice & his 2026 NBA Finals prediction.
About this episode
Kenny Smith discusses his basketball career, personal experiences, and insights on life and legacy.
“Champions do daily what everyone does occasionally.”-Kenny Smith NBA champion, award-winning analyst, and basketball icon Kenny “The Jet” Smith joins The Pivot for a layered conversation about basketball, brotherhood, family, and legacy. From his early days at the University of North Carolina playing under legendary coach Dean Smith to winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Houston Rockets, Kenny reflects on the defining moments that shaped his career and his life. Kenny opens up about competing during the Michael Jordan era and shares stories about his longtime relationship with MJ, what made him different, and how that generation transformed basketball forever. He reveals never-told-before stories of college shenanigans, ultimate confidence and being touted the 6th overall pick yet still having animosity towards a certain someone in Chicago. The conversation also jumps into the chemistry and chaos behind the scenes of the award-winning Inside the NBA, as Kenny reveals what it’s really like working alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson on one of the most beloved shows in sports television. He opens up about how the show became one of the most…
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