Background and career
Kenneth Smith (born March 8, 1965), nicknamed "the Jet", is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player who played for six teams during his 10-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won back-to-back NBA championships with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995. Smith played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels, earning consensus first-team All-American honors as a senior in 1987. He was selected by Sacramento in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft with the sixth overall pick and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team with the Kings. After retiring from playing, Smith became a basketball commentator for the Emmy Award-winning Inside the NBA on TNT and ESPN as well as NBA Countdown. He also works as an analyst for CBS/Turner during the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Smith was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Queens, spending time in the LeFrak City neighborhood. He played some of his earliest basketball at New York's Riverside Church and at Stephen A. Halsey Junior High School in Rego Park, Queens. Smith attended Archbishop Molloy High School, where he was coached by Jack Curran, the high school coach with the most wins in New York City and New York State history. Smith was named a McDonald's All-American in 1983, then played basketball at the University of North Carolina for Dean Smith. Kenny Smith credits former South Carolina State star Bobby Lewis with his development as a shooter and ballhandler. Lewis averaged 30.9 points per game and was a First Team Division II All-American as a senior at South Carolina State. He later developed the Bobby Lewis Basketball Skills Development Program, a training regimen that he presented at basketball camps around the country. Smith attended several of his lectures while in high school, and continued to use Lewis's drills throughout his basketball career, to this day teaching them at his own basketball camps. Of Lewis, Smith said, "He's the best lecturer ever. He had the best influence in terms of my workout regimen without question."
Smith joined junior Michael Jordan and senior Sam Perkins on a North Carolina team that was a pre-season #1 and finished the season ranked #1 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 regional semifinals of the 1984 NCAA tournament. He led North Carolina to the Elite Eight in 1985, losing to eventual national champion Villanova. Smith was named a Consensus All-American (1st Team) as senior in 1987, averaging 16.9 points, 6.1 assists per game while helping North Carolina to return to the Elite Eight. Playing in a game that featured eleven future NBA players, Smith led the Tar Heels with 25 points and seven assists in a loss to Syracuse, 79–75. During his career at North Carolina, Smith averaged 12.9 points and 6.0 assists per game, while shooting .512 from the field, and .823 from the free throw line. In 1986–87, the first season the NCAA added three-point field goals, Smith shot .408. As of 2016, he ranks second in school history in total assists (768), fourth in total steals (195), and fifth in assists per game. Smith helped North Carolina to a record of 115–22 from the 1983–84 to 1986–87 seasons, including two Elite Eight appearances (1985 and 1987) and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1986. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season conference championships in 1984 and 1987, and tied for first in 1985. North Carolina never finished lower than eighth in the national polls during Smith's four years at the school.
Smith represented the United States in the 1986 FIBA World Championship, on a team that included David Robinson, Muggsy Bogues and Steve Kerr: the last to exclusively feature amateur American players. He was second on the team in scoring behind Charles Smith with 14.7 points per game. Smith scored 23 points to lead the US to an 87–85 win and the Gold Medal over a Soviet Union team that featured Arvydas Sabonis.
The Sacramento Kings selected Smith with the sixth overall pick of the 1987 NBA draft. He made his NBA debut in their season opener against the Golden State Warriors on November 6, 1987, scoring 11 points with five assists in Sacramento's win. Under Hall of Fame head coach Bill Russell (who would step down as coach to become General Manager 58 games into the season), Smith was immediately a starter in Sacramento. He went on to average 13.8 points and 7.1 assists per game and be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team. In 81 starts his second season, Smith averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 38.8 minutes per game. In his third season, he competed in the dunk contest, and made it to the finals of the competition, scoring high points for originality with his signature dunk—he started by turning his back to the basket, bouncing the ball backward between his legs and off the backboard, then turning and grabbing it in the air and reverse dunking it. He narrowly lost to Dominique Wilkins—who would become his teammate just days later with the Atlanta Hawks.
Midway through the 1989–90 season, Smith was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Antoine Carr. 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 he played for the Hawks as a backup to team captain Doc Rivers.
