Catching Up With TNT NBA Analyst Kenny Smith

TNT's Kenny Smith

Q: If you could invent an All-Star weekend competition tailor-made for Sir Charles, what would that be?

Smith: It would have to be something regarding food. I would do a tasting for him more than a contest. He could be the wine or food taster handing out the blue ribbon, but he’d be a judge, not a contestant.

Q: Could you point to a single factor that created such a wild Western Conference playoff race this year?

Smith: The parity in the West came from PAU GASOL going to the Lakers. What that did was create a domino effect, because it forced more of the teams to make moves to contend with the Lakers.

Q: What is the biggest difference between the game when you played and today?

Smith: Financials are obvious. There’s a big financial difference between being the sixth pick in the draft, which I was, and being the sixth pick in the draft now, and a big difference financially between being the starting point guard on a championship team back-to-back and being one now. Secondly, individually the players are better now, but collectively there were more good teams before.

Q: What’s the biggest difference between “Inside the NBA” and other studio shows out there?

Smith: The one thing we do is we’re consistent with our on-air and off-air personalities. So there’s not much difference between a conversation that Charles and I would have on-air and one we would have off-air. The same thing with Ernie. I mean, there would be more expletives with Chuck off-air, but that’s about it. It feels like you’re eavesdropping in our living room. I have to remind myself that I’m on TV sometimes.

Q: The Hornets barely met the attendance benchmarks in their lease for the last part of the season. Do they need a deep playoff run to continue to generate interest and keep the team in New Orleans long-term?

Smith: I think they’ve solidified it already. With the type of season that they had and [G] CHRIS PAUL had, they’ve solidified the excitement in that city.

Q: In a perfect world, how would the Sonics situation turn out?

Smith: I think the writing’s on the wall. The team is not going to be in Seattle. But in a perfect world, they would do like Charlotte and all of a sudden get a team again. I think the 25th hour has already passed, so the next best thing is to retool and start from scratch and really have a clear vision of how they’re going to do it for the next 40 years.

Q: Do you believe there will be an NBA team overseas in your lifetime?

Smith: Oh, you’ll see that in the next five years. I mean it’s too obvious and too needed. You won’t see one team coming, you’ll see four and the creation of a division (in Europe). My recommendation would be you fly over there, spend a week, two weeks, play all the teams. And when they come over, they take two weeks at a time and play all the teams here. But the biggest obstacle for the players and the players association will be, "I just got traded to France." That’s going to be the one issue, but I have a recommendation for that, too: you can only trade overseas at the All-Star break and at the end of the year.

Q: So you’ve got the whole scenario pretty much worked out.

Smith: Yeah, I’m ready to be the international commissioner.

Smith Feels NBA Needs To Return To Marketing Teams, Not Players

Smith: What happened in the ‘80s and before is, people followed teams, they didn’t follow players. But with free agency, people follow players, and that leads to a younger audience, who are going to be fans of KEVIN GARNETT, or SHAQ or Kobe. If you’re older, it’s more, '‘This is my city. This where I live, where I work.’' Now you see some teams creating a legacy, like I would imagine Detroit fans don’t follow RASHEED WALLACE. Knicks fans, even though the Knicks are terrible, follow the team and not the individual players. When the NBA gets back to marketing teams, the older fans will come back.

Q: Does the Duke-UNC rivalry translate into the league after players leave school?

Smith: For the players, it’s fun-spirited but competitive. It’s not that we hate each other. We respect each other, but we love to see Duke lose, and they love to see Carolina lose.

Q: What is a sports business story you will be watching closely this year?

Smith: The direction the athletic apparel and shoe industry is heading, with the way the price point is moving and athletic gear becoming more like walking-around gear. 

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