Six Questions with Kenny 'the Jet' Smith
By Jason McIntyre
Q: Everyone loves the TNT crew and everyone without NBA TV misses you guys in the postseason. The ESPN crew leaves something to be desired. Why do you think they can’t match Inside the NBA’s pre-and-post game shows? Are you able to watch what they do?
A: Oh, I see what they do. But it’s tough to critique their show, how about I say what works for us?
Q: But everyone knows what works for you guys, and is trying to capture what you guys do.
A: I just think we’ve become … the 1993 Bulls. So dominant that whenever a team wins a title after them – like the Rockets – people will say, ‘yeah, but Michael didn’t play.’ We’ve got Phil Jackson, Jordan, Pippen … people just perceive us differently. It’s going to be hard at this point to match up with us.
We don’t have production meetings, and I think that helps. What happens on the show is spontaneity. The only one who knows what is going on, in terms of the breaks and stuff, is Ernie.
Eight or nine years ago, they told us we were going to have production meeting. And Charles goes, ‘I’m not going.’ And then they asked me if I wanted to go and I said ‘No, I’m not going. For what? What’s going to happen in a production meeting?'”
A: I would probably be Phil. Chuck is Jordan. And Ernie would be Scottie. Actually, you could using a boxing analogy – Charles is Mike Tyson, hitting you with one liners and knocking you out. I’m Sugar Ray Leonard – jabbing you with information. And Ernie is Angelo Dundee, the cut guy.
Q: How does Chris Webber fit into this imaginary Bulls team? We’re fans of his work.
A: He’s our John Paxson, coming in to hit a big shot. Or he’s Steve Kerr.
Q: Where did you get the nickname ‘The Jet?’
A: High school. A writer at the New York Daily News. I played a game in my senior year and the next day the headline read, ‘the Jet goes off.’ I was reading the article, and kept wondering, who is this guy ‘the Jet?’ I had no idea it was me. And then I read, ‘Kenny ‘the Jet’ Smith, jetting up the court in high school,’ and it just stuck.
Q: What are your favorite NBA nicknames of all-time? Nicknames seem like a lost art, sort of like the mid-range jumper.
A: Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier. Coolest guy on the planet. The “Iceman,” for sure. And … I love ‘The Jet.’ I don’t know why nicknames aren’t that popular anymore. That’s a good question. When I first got to Turner, I started giving out nicknames. I gave Shawn Marion ‘the Matrix.’ I used to call Lamar Odom ‘the Goods.’ And I gave Vince Carter ‘Half man, half amazing.’ I kind of stopped giving them out when the street ball legacy started dying down a bit.