The start of the NBA playoffs means thrilling action, star players looking for a championship and long-term Hall of Fame members to consolidate their legacy.
It’s also that TNT’s Inside the NBA is watching the quotes.
Kenny Smith joined Bleacher Report for a AMA on Friday to talk about the beloved show, running with Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, betting against Michael Jordan, who is the shooter between Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard, and much more.
The following is the full transcript of the AMA session.
@BayLegend: How was the NBA game as an analyst?
I think it’s not, what I’ve tried to achieve is that I go on to take what I know as an analyst and mix it with what I know as a player. I’m talking about an infantry standpoint, I call it the Bull Durham effect, as when they go to the mound, I need to know the internal scoop
@manny_mamba: What prompted you to move on to post-NBA broadcasting?
My wife at the time in the media and she said “look what I do” and wrote notes, then checked them with me and told me I was pretty smart. I wrote all the smart things. Michael Jackson, the player and not the singer, played in combination and became a skill coordinator at TNT and the rest belongs to the story.
@BayLegend: What’s your favorite moment in Inside the NBA?
This is my twentieth year and it may be too late! Every night is different … Chuck kisses a donkey, throws Shaq over a Christmas tree. Because we’re so authentic, you never know what’s going to come out. It’s more of a verbal exchange than an exhibition. We were a wonderful basketball show in a moment, but now we’re a smart TV screen
@Not_RudyGobert: How did you get your nickname?
At the best school. A Bill Travers came to a game, we were betting on Christ the King and I had a wonderful game and the next day I was running to the paper to see if my call was on it. He called me without my knowledge and he stayed. I was like, who’s the jet? Dean Smith wasn’t very fond of nickcall, so he had no college compatibility, so Mullins and Pooh Richardson knew I was the Jet and Kevin Harlin was the only announcer who knew my nickcall and would use it. Even Ernie said, that’s the Jet and I said it was my nickcall! Now everybody’s calling me.
@DekeGeke: What’s your favorite Shaq moment?
Two things: I was wonderful in the green room the first week, and then when he walked into the show, he didn’t say the same things. So I approached him and said, “You don’t want to be dominant, just be you.”
Shaqitn ‘a Fool is the component we’ve all been waiting for! I wait every night to see what happens.
@Not_JerryJones: What is the most exciting player to see right now?
Lady and Luka, those two guys right now. Traditionally: Curry with his playing, Giannis in the 5 most sensible, Harden is four years old.
@fav: Who is the shooter: Steph or Lady?
Yeahhhhhhh! Yes, Steph killed me in about 2 seconds! I was thinking about that. In my mind, when I think about it, it was like “the only guy who shoots like that is Steph.” But then came out “I don’t know if you can shoot like that, Steph. I haven’t noticed you in a long time.” So immediately, tweet “I love you Kenny, but you stumble.” I think the most productive shooter in consistency was Steph, he did it longer. Everything Steph Curry eats to take this picture, they give to Lady in the bubble.
@Steve_Perrault: Is it the most productive moment of your year to signal the end of the contest of dumps? Vince Carter’s legendary dump contest in 2000, I think your functionality is just as good
I was so excited the first year Turner told me to take part in the Dunk contest as an advertiser. Because I’ve studied it before. There are four other people I’ve had your rhythm stolen. I grew up in New York, so the first guy is a guy named Warner Wolf. He was a news anchor and used to say, “Let’s watch the video!” So I’m the one who’s running towards the big picture. That’s where I got that from. Rick Barry is next. When Michael was competing in the Dunk contest, I was still in college. And I had noticed that Michael did many dumps … the way he described them was like “look at Michael’s legs!” I still hear it. “Look at the floating motion! Look at the movement! That’s the difference, he says it as a story. Here’s the last part. I’m a biggie Smalls fan. Tell a story even if you can’t see it. So I like to call the Dunk Contest as if I were on a radio show. I guess I’m on the radio and no one can see what’s going on unless I. So, my emotion is real, my cadence is real. It’s like I’m telling someone on the phone,’me! I tell you, it’s in the air, your legs are in the air, it’s over!! With Vince Carter saying, “It’s over,” I don’t think he’ll listen to me because we did it at the same time. I don’t have a motto. It’s just coming out. I’m a $5 freestyle rapper on a $100 budget. I beat Vince that night. Because Danny Ainge was the guy who called him with me and Vince was doing his first dump and I gave him a 10. So Danny says, “Kenny, if it’s the tenth, that’s the norm.” And I said ‘yes’. So his next matte was actually a 10, but he wasn’t as smart as the other. Then everyone gave him a 10 and I gave him a 9. So I stop by the hotel elevator after the Dunk Contest. And the doors close, someone puts their hand on the doors and they reopen and Vince comes in and says, “I don’t know what ground you’re going through, but I’m passing by to communicate. I was looking to be the first player to get the top 50 and you ruined it for me. We’re Tar Heels, how did you do that to me? And I said, “Vince! If I’d known, I’d have given you the 10. Because Danny Ainge is the one who told me I can’t give a 10 anymore if he’s not as smart as the first! “I was the fool who didn’t give him the 10 on any occasion. So he deserves to have had the only best hitale score on the Dunk Contest hitale.
@asuputamadre: Kenny, how would the Hakeem Rockets manage with the MJ Bulls if you met in the final?
Oh, we were hitting them. We beat them. Robert Horry says so and played with Phil Jackson, so he can be consistent with receiving him. The two things most others forget, in that first set when they won their first 3 titles, we were 5-1 against them in the normal season. We are their domains. We were the only team in this race who could say that. Now it’s not the playoffs, Michael’s another in the playoffs. But there’s no Dennis Rodman or Horace Grant. Michael played 40 games in the year he ranked 45th. He averaged 30 problems consistent with the playoff game. It’s not because I’m not smart enough, it’s because they weren’t. That’s why they lost to Orlando, they were too small. The team they lost to Shaq, we swept this team. We didn’t lose a game against them in the final. The real question would have been whether Rodman or Grant were there. Then it would have been like, I don’t know. But Michael is the CABRA. He’s the biggest. But we saw that GOAT was not also the highest productivity equipment.
Who’s the funniest: Shaq or Charles Barkley?
Shaq is more fun. I’m saying Chuck’s pretty shocking, you know. Shaq is fun, Chuck is more shocking. Chuck says your subconscious – what’s on your mind. When he gets to the front, you clear it, Chuck doesn’t have that clearing.
What did Logan_bam777 do when he won his first championship?
I’d say the climax of all the pictures you make, of all the hills you run. It’s a time when you’re about to die: all the paintings, your parents guide you, AAU, dance trip, everything starts to flash. It’s touching because you realize you’ve done something that very few people do. While he paints hard, all bus trips, his teammates, of course. A moment when you’re in a moment of love and a moment of open emotion. You’d do anything at that time I ask you: this is the most productive time to ask a player for anything, those who are 24 hours after winning!
@oliverclothesoff: Can you describe the evolution of Inside the NBA from its inception to the past? And how was he so influential?
The biggest difference is that we last longer. I don’t know if there’s a difference because the procedure and content of our idea don’t change. We’re just longer. If the game ended at 12:45 p.m., we had to stop at 1 a.m. Now they give us part one hour after the game. Then Charles came and gave us an hour. Now, every single night, the program must pass and our screen cancels everything else. I don’t think there’s any other show in the history of television that does.
We’re the ones who upload everything that’s current, bring it to the show. We’ll make a joke about your mother with you, we’re that user with you and we’re so deep. We’ll get back to the mothers of our fans!
@tensecondhooper: Jordan’s favorite moment in front of him?
It’s conf. so we only play them twice a year. It does anything in the game you’re going through, to a lot of other people “go ahead, take this shot, you have it, I’m not going to pass to challenge you”. So in your brain you’re thinking, do you deserve me to throw the play or does it really attack me? I never looked for this bait. You may have just said that we used to play together, it may let you have itArray … But he never did. I said I’m going to stop by to open it on my own. I’m not going to stop by to take the bait. The only thing many other people don’t know is each of MJ’s idea processes, if he backs up, he can see Dean Smith saying exactly the same quote. MJ adds the competitiveness of it. Much of Michael’s wonderful inspiration comes from Dean Smith.
@mister_padre: What is the golf quartet of your dreams?
Coach Smith, Bill Russell, Obama, Oprah! I’d love to hear the feminine in a lot of things. I’m a storyteller and I love hearing stories so that those four stories give the most productive stories.
@quitactnlikeukno: Which one would you compare to today?
Early in my career, I’d say if Westbrook’s a 10, I’m a five edition. Push fast, kill, pull up. From the FT line to the FT line, no faster. Now the game is so different. I only scored three or 4 triples consistent with the playoff game. The 3% playoff leader in the game is I! That means I would have fired more because I’m the most productive in terms of consistent percentages, I’d play more like existing escorts taking 8 to nine triples consistent with the game.
What’s keeping the Celtics from a championship?
Nothing. They have everything they need. Kemba, Tatum, possibly the side player of the match. They have everything they need.
Kthompson16: What’s your favorite Dean Smith story?
My favorite doesn’t even fear me. It’s Makhtar N’Diaye. I say that because of the social injustice that’s been unleashed lately. Makhtar was practicing bad practice and Coach Guthridge, our assistant coach, said, “Hey, give me Mak!” And Mak didn’t need to look at it. Then Coach Guthridge kicks him out of training. After training, one of our other apprentices goes in there and asks what’s going on, like are you sick at home or what? Mak’s parents lived in Africa, so he thought it could be made at home. And Makhtar wasn’t chasing him. Then the coach says, “Makhtar, look at me when I tell you.” And he says “good coach, in my culture, if I look at you, an adult, it’s a sign of disrespect. And the coach says “oh” and he’s fainting. So by next week, Coach Guthridge won’t be practicing. And then Mak idea that he can just recruit or anything else. Then Makhtar says he gets a call from his mother and it’s like “there’s a guy in our space who says he’s his assistant coach, and he’s been here 4 days, and he’ll be informed of our culture.” So Coach Smith sent him there without even telling Makhtar, sent him to AFRICA, to be informed of his culture, so that he would never make that mistake again. That’s what social justice is here.
KingKush24: Reflections on yesterday’s lottery?
I don’t understand why the Knicks have such a reaction. I guess New York’s expectation is to be number one in fashion and rap music, etc. Everybody needs those things to happen, and when they don’t, they laugh at New York. I think the task is becoming interesting. I think the first selection will probably be the boy from Georgia. If you have an eBook for emotion, you’ll probably approve it with Ball.
Jet Academy: With pandemic and social estrangement, young people are homeschooled all over the country and around the world and in the summer there were no basketball camps or anything. So I created the first basketball academy broadcasting live at The Jet Academy. I called Kemba, Trae Young, Victor Oladipo, WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner and created the first virtual camp where young children come to live to ask questions, they can download their videos. Works on any device anywhere. All you want is a cellular service or a Wi-Fi connection. With the month of the new year, we have a next segment on scholarships. Because many young children think that getting a scholarship is betting on a travel team, that’s not right. A lot of other people want to dive, so we’re talking about explosion and all that stuff. The last thing we do this month is work out with the coaches who exercise the wonderful players. So the guys who exercise the James Hardens and Kevin Durant are coming in and they’re passing by to show you all the exercises. So move on to JetAcademyCamp.com to make your game perfect. There is no excuse for not succeeding in your game a pandemic!