Kenny Smith
Kenny Smith was born in Queens, New York, United States on March 8th, 1965 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 59, Kenny Smith biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 59 years old, Kenny Smith has this physical status:
Kenneth "The Jet" Smith (born March 8, 1965) is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He was active in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets.
With Houston, he has won two NBA championships. Smith spent college with the North Carolina Tar Heels, winning consensus first-team All-American recognition as a senior in 1987.
He was drafted by Sacramento in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft, gaining the sixth overall pick and being named to the Sacramento NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Smith became a basketball analyst after retiring from playing and has received numerous Emmys for his work on Inside the NBA on TNT.
During the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, he also works as an analyst for CBS/Turner.
Early life
Smith was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, and later grew up in Queens, spending time in LeFrak City. At Riverside Church in New York, he played some of his earliest basketball. Smith was coached by Jack Curran, the high school coach with the most victories in New York City and New York State history, and he attended Archbishop Molloy High School. Smith was named a McDonald's All-American in 1983 and spent basketball at the University of North Carolina for Dean Smith.
Kenny Smith cites former South Carolina State University shooter Bobby Lewis with his growth as a shooter and ballhandler. Lewis was a senior at South Carolina State and averaged 30.9 points per game, earning him to be a First Team Division II All-American. Later, he created the Bobby Lewis Basketball Skills Development Service, a preparation regimen he taught at basketball camps around the country. Smith took several of his lectures while in high school and then went back to Lewis' drills throughout his basketball career, now teaching them at his own basketball camps. "He's the best lecturer ever," Smith said of Lewis. Without question, he had the most influence in terms of my workout regimen."
Personal life
Smith has been married twice. He has two children from his first marriage; Kayla, an R&B singer and K.J., was a basketball player at the University of North Carolina, was his father's alma mater.
Smith met English model Gwendolyn Osborne at a charity function in 2004 after divorcing his first wife. They married on September 8, 2006. They have two children together. Smith is also the step-father of Osborne's daughter from a previous marriage. On The Price Is Right, Osborne is a former model. In 2018, Gwendolyn Osborne filed for divorce.
College career
Kenny Smith was a pre-season favorite and finished the season ranked first with a 28–3 record. Smith averaged 9.1 points and 5.0 assists per game, and the Tar Heels lost to Indiana in the 1984 NCAA tournament's regional semifinals. In 1985, he led North Carolina to the Elite Eight, losing to eventual national champion Villanova. Smith was selected as a senior in 1987, averaging 16.9 points and 6.1 assists per game while helping North Carolina return to the Elite Eight. Smith led the Tar Heels to loss to Syracuse, 79–75, in a game that featured eleven future NBA players.
Smith averaged 12.9 points and 6.0 assists per game in his North Carolina career, as well as shooting.512 from the field and.823 from the free throw line. Smith shot.408. Smith shot.408. He ranks second in total assists (768), fourth in total thefts (195), and fifth in assists per game as of 2016. Smith helped North Carolina maintain their record of 115–22 from 1983–85, 1987–87, as well as two Elite Eight appearances (1985 and 1987) and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1986. In 1984 and 1987, they captured the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season conference championships, and 1985 tied for first. During Smith's four years at the university, North Carolina never finished lower than 8th in the national polls.
Smith was a member of the United States National Team in the 1986 FIBA World Championships, including David Robinson, Muggsy Bogues, and Steve Kerr. He came in second on the team in scoring behind Charles Smith at 14.7 points per game. Smith led the United States to an 87–85 victory and the Gold Medal for a Soviet Union squad starring Arvydas Sabonis.
NBA playing career
Smith was selected as a 6'3" 170 lb point guard by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick of the 1987 NBA draft. After scoring 13.8 points and 7.1 assists per game for the Kings, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (1st Team). Smith began his NBA career as a head coach for the Kings until he was suspended 58 games into the '87-88 season.' Smith was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks midway through the 1990-90 season, where he was a reserve player for the first time in his career, averaging 7.7 points per game while only starting five of thirty-games for the Hawks as a backup to team captain Doc Rivers.
Smith was drafted to the Houston Rockets in 1989-90, where he would play for the next six seasons. Smith averaged 17.7 points per game in 1990–91, leading the Rockets in assists per game (7.1) and free throw percentage (.844). He helped the Rockets to a 52-31 record, the highest regular season in franchise history at the time. In the first round of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers took their first round bye. Smith ranked 17th in the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, just behind teammate Hakeem Olajuwon.
Don Chaney, the Head Coach, was fired after posting a record of just 26-26 in the 1991-92 season. Rudy Tomjanovich, a former Rocket player who went 16-14 to end the season, was recalled by a single game, missing the playoffs by a single game. In 1992-93, the Rockets went 55-27, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the playoffs in seven games. In a Game 6 victory for Houston, Smith helped to cause a game seven against Seattle by scoring 30 points and shooting 4–6 from three-point range. In 1993–94 and 1994–95, the Rockets captured back-to-back championships with Smith as the starting point guard. Smith averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 assists per game from 1992-1993 to 1994-95, with a three-point percentage of.425. Smith had almost identical averages of 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 57 playoff games during the same time period, shooting.456 from three-point range. Smith had 23 points, 9 assists, and made seven three-pointers, including the game-tying shot that forced the game to overtime in the first game of the 1995 Finals against the Orlando Magic. Smith's 7 three pointers in the first game of the 1995 NBA Finals was a NBA record at the time. The Rockets won the game 120–118, then went on to sweep the Magic in four games.
Smith had been gradually losing playing time to Sam Cassell, but the Rockets' starting point guard continued to serve through the 1995-96 season. Despite the fact that Smith's points, assists, robbery, and minutes per game dropped for the fifth straight season, he was also efficient in 1995–96. He had 8.5 points and 3.6 assists per game, and he shot.382 from three-point range and.821 from the free throw line. With a 48–34 record, the Rockets defeated the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round before being swept in the second round by the eventual Finals runner-up Seattle SuperSonics. Smith had 17 points, 6 assists, and was 4–4 from three-point range in game four of the Lakers series, helping the Rockets win the series clincher 102-94. Magic Johnson's victory over the Lakers was also the last NBA game for him. Magic Johnson returned to the NBA in 2010 after a five-year absence.
Smith was cut from the 1995–96 season, and he has played for the Detroit Pistons. He appeared in only nine games with the Pistons before being waived and signed by the Orlando Magic, who cut Smith after only six games. Smith was then signed to the Denver Nuggets, where he would complete his career as a player. Smith played sparingly for the Pistons and Magic, but the Nuggets gave him his last meaningful playing time of his career, winning only 21 games in the season. When playing just under twenty minutes per game, Smith averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 assists. Smith's averaged 6.3 points and 2.4 assists per game, among his lowest averages of his career, while his three-point percentage of.437 (59/135) was his second best of his career and his fourth season in which he shot better than 40% on three-pointers.
Smith scored 9,397 points (12.8 avg.) during his career. When shooting.480 from the field,.399 from three-point range, and.829 from the free throw line, the defender registered 4,073 assists (5.5 avg). In three-point percentage three times (1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95), and the top ten in free throw percentage twice (1992–94). Smith finished fifth in minutes played, seventh in minutes per game, and tenth in total assists in the 1988–89 season. Smith's career three-point percentage of.399-42nd in NBA history goes back to 2010. Smith held a three-point percentage (.425) throughout his career, and he was rated among the all-time leaders in various categories for the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets.
Broadcasting career
Smith joined Turner Sports in early 1998 and spent time as a studio analyst for the NBA regular season and the playoffs. Smith, a winner of the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show, works with Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal on Inside the NBA. Smith appeared on NBA television as an analyst for the 2001 Goodwill Games. Smith appeared on MSG Network's broadcasts of New York Knicks games from 2005 to 2008, and he also served as an analyst for CBS/Turner during the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Smith was a member of the Texas team that won the Shooting Stars Competition during the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend.
Smith told Brandon Scoop B Robinson of the Scoop B Radio Podcast in 2017 that the 1994 Houston Rockets would have defeated Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls if they'd met each other in the NBA Finals.
Smith left the arena on the day's games in honor of Jacob Blake's shooting on August 26, 2020. Following the announcement of the games' postponements, the live broadcast, which had been supposed to lead to a double-header, was turned into a panel discussion of racial injustice in America.
Smith signed a long-term contract extension with Warner Bros in October 2022. On Inside the NBA, Discovery Sports will continue as a host.
Acting career
In the film Hustle (2022), starring Adam Sandler and Juancho Hernangomez, Kenny Smith played Leon Rich.
