HoopsHype.com Rumors

Q: Do you think Mike Woodson deserves to return as Knicks coach? Kenny Smith: Woody did a great job. He’s added perspective to this team. He has gotten the guys on the team to buy into 1) passing and 2) playing defense. He’s earned the opportunity to have all his best players together, which he really has not had for a sustained amount of time. So, I hope they give him a chance. New York Post

New York Knicks, Mike Woodson, Coaching, Kenny Smith 

You've been a successful TV analyst for a long time but would you like to get back into the league in a front-office capacity some day? Kenny Smith: I think inevitably I'll be coaching some day, I just don't know when. I think that's just inevitable. Or manager. I got some people knock on my door to start coaching, but I've just haven't opened it yet. You know, next year I think I might take a look and see who's knocking. HoopsHype

Coaching, Kenny Smith 

What do you think the Lakers should do when Derek Fisher retires from basketball? What's his legacy with the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles? Should they retire his jersey? Kenny Smith: I mean, they have too many great players that have come to Los Angeles to think about before retiring his jersey... I think about Robert Horry, what he did for the franchise... So many great players. Getting his jersey retired will be difficult, but he is definitely a Laker legend. HoopsHype

Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry 

There is definitely a case that can be made for Chris Bosh at forward over Anthony, and it’s a case that Kenny Smith, Chris Webber and even Charles Barkley all made on the show. O’Neal, of course, would have none of it. “Carmelo is doing more than Bosh,” O’Neal said. “There you go again,” Barkley said. There you go, Charles Barkley, voice of reason. Shaq further justified his preference by arguing that Bosh is only what he’s doing because the Big 2 takes pressure off him. Um, wait. Aren’t Bosh’s numbers much better this season without Wade? And wasn’t the previous criticism of Bosh his stat-padding on a mediocre Toronto team? So now the problem is that he’s producing slightly lesser — more efficient numbers — on a contender? Palm Beach Post

Miami Heat, Chris Bosh, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

Shaquille O'Neal's first few outings on TNT's "Inside the NBA" have been up and down, to put it charitably. Still, he's starting to develop relationships with the rest of the studio team, including Charles Barkley. For the most part, that means Shaq says something questionable, Barkley undermines him, and Ernie Johnson or Kenny Smith tells a stupid joke to defuse tension. It's TV at its best. Last week, Shaq and Chuck got to talking about the top power forwards in the NBA; the former repped Blake Griffin, while the latter sang the praises of Kevin Love. The discussion got mildly contentious, and eventually Shaq proposed a bet that the supporter of whichever player did worse during their game last Friday would have to go pantsless on the "Inside the NBA" set. Presumably at an hour when children would be asleep. Yahoo! Sports

Shaquille O'Neal, Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

The Wizards have plummeted considerably since then, and so has Barkley’s opinion of the franchise — which he shared on Thursday night during “Inside the NBA” on TNT. Analysts Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal were asked to describe their surprises and disappointments through the first month of the season and Barkley and O’Neal both singled out the 3-15 Wizards. Barkley started his comments by mentioning that the quality of play has been poor because of the lockout and added, “There are some bad basketball teams in the NBA.” “Name three,” Smith said. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

Barkley mentioned the Charlotte Bobcats, then said, “The worst team in the NBA, the Washington Bullets.” Smith responded, “The Washington Generals?” Smith then interrupted Barkley and asked, “You in a time warp? You called them the Bullets.” Barkley shot back, “I call ‘em the Bullets, ‘cause I want to shoot ‘em.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

Barkley later explained, “I’ll never call them the Wizards. They should be called the Generals. They already got . . . Flip Saunders got fired. Let me tell you something, Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, Lenny Wilkins, coaching together couldn’t make them bums winners.” O’Neal was next up and said, “My biggest disappointment is the Wizards, the Bullets, whatever you call them. I think with all the ability and talent that John Wall has, he needs to do a better job of leading the team. Just like, they make a lot of juvenile mistakes. The other day, we saw JaVale McGee throw it off the glass when they’re down by six. Andray Blatche is a good player and I think he could step his game up a little bit. And I’m very surprised and disappointed they are the worst team in the league right now.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

Kayla Brianna, the daughter of TNT analyst Kenny Smith has, is giving her dad a run for his money in the entertainment business. Here is her video "If You Love Me." You can catch some of Smith's high-profile friends promoting the video on Twitter. USA Today

Kenny Smith, Kayla Brianna 

Kenny Smith, now a TNT studio analyst, said the moment he heard Johnson's announcement on Nov. 7, 1991, he said one word. "Jesus," Smith said. "I wasn't educated at all on what was going on with the virus. It turns out, unfortunately for him, fortunately for us, he was the best man for the job. His job was educating people on what HIV was. He helped me learn a totally new perspective. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle, that seemed to be Magic's attitude. "I don't know if there was another person alive, not just athlete, but person, who had such goodwill earned up, who could have told us what he told us and have people feel sympathy instead of something else." Los Angeles Times

Magic Johnson, Kenny Smith 

Kenny Smith said Thursday night he is in the process of organizing a charity game in Las Vegas and wants it to benefit military members. It will be played on Veteran's Day, Friday Nov. 11. That's the day before Manny Pacquiao is scheduled for a welterweight title fight in Las Vegas against Juan Manuel Marquez, which could make it a huge sports weekend in Sin City. The beneficiaries will be former military members, which is fitting because the game will be played on Veterans Day. Dallas Morning News

Kenny Smith 

Many details must be worked out, but Smith said he has already been in touch with numerous players and the response has been excellent. And having the event benefit veterans would make it an instant success with sponsors. "I told them I'd do it, but I want to bring the charity aspect into it,'' Smith said while speaking at the SMU basketball tipoff gala. "If I know there's a long lockout, I want to do it on Veterans Day and give them money to the veterans. It's got to be not only for the fans, but also for the soldiers. "That's the only way it makes sense. You can't do it for a money grab. You have to do it for something that's really worthwhile.'' Dallas Morning News

Lockout, Kenny Smith 

Smith emphasized that players of past generations often had to get creative to get what they felt was owed to them. "When I was with the Rockets, they said, 'we don't want to pay you $2.1 million,' '' Smith said. "I said, 'OK, what do you want to pay me?' They were saying $1.7 million. I said, 'OK, pay me $2.1 if we win over 50 games.' We won over 50 games that year. "So it has to be incentive based. And if you hit certain numbers, why wouldn't you want to profit share. You're profit sharing zero right now. "So, three percent? If you're talking about a pie - cherry pie, my favorite - and you're telling me I get three percent less or three percent more, we'll figure it out and start eating the pie.'' Dallas Morning News

CBA, Lockout, Kenny Smith 

Shaquille O’Neal is joining TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show, teaming with Suns Ring of Honor member Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. He was courted by ABC/ESPN as well since his retirement but picked TNT because he felt the environment would be fun. “It has also been my favorite show,” said O’Neal, who has kept a house in Atlanta, TNT’s home, for 15 years. “I’d love to be up there hanging out with Charles, Kenny and Ernie. I just thought that was the best fit for me. “It was a deal I couldn’t resist.” Arizona Republic

Shaquille O'Neal, Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

O’Neal said he knew he wanted to enter broadcasting immediately after retirement and is willing to criticize his peers, not that playing alongside them ever stopped him. “Some people give unfair criticism,” O’Neal said. “Some people give fair criticism. I have the ability and the backing to give fair criticism. The only time I have a problem with people giving criticism is when they haven’t walked that walk. I’ve walked many walks in my 19-year career. Any criticism I give should be fair.” Arizona Republic

Shaquille O'Neal, Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

If a delicate balance exists in the chemistry that makes TNT’s “Inside the NBA” a successful and amusing studio program, will a huge new ingredient named Shaquille O’Neal alter it? The camaraderie that binds Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson as a team is difficult to imitate — as ESPN has shown — so why try to change the chemical balance? The answer: because Shaq exists. O’Neal can be charming and funny, but whether he will equal Barkley’s outrageousness is unknown. O’Neal is also surprisingly soft-spoken for a man of his dimensions. Barkley’s voice matches his size. “We’re going to make it very fun,” O’Neal said on a conference call Thursday. “We’re going to make it more exciting for the fans to watch.” He said he religiously watched “Inside” as a player, which probably gave TNT an edge over ESPN’s bid, as did the fact that he owns a house near Atlanta, where TNT is based. New York Times

Shaquille O'Neal, Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

The Western Conference finals belong to ESPN. That means Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy courtside, with Stuart Scott, Michael Wilbon, Jon Barry and Magic Johnson in the studio. TNT owns the rights to the Heat-Bulls Eastern Conference finals, with Marv Albert, Steve Kerr and Reggie Miller courtside. Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley will be in the studio, with guest appearances from Kevin McHale and Chris Webber. Charlotte Observer

Steve Kerr, Kevin McHale, Mark Jackson, Media, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Chris Webber, Jeff Van Gundy, Reggie Miller, Jon Barry, Kenny Smith 

Kenny Smith's new massive presentation to showcase his famous 'Pictures' hasn't exactly gone over a storm this postseason. The long walk to a giant screen is most criticized, with most of the moaning coming from in-house. From over his shoulder. From Charles Barkley. So why not give a little wink to the viewing audience to let them know that, yeah, you're not big fans of the practice yourself. Why not prank Kenny using a ghostly apparition, straight out of an eBaum's World video from 2004? Yahoo! Sports

Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

I know people were extremely excited to hear that you and Charles Barkley were going to be on the CBS telecast. (Sunday night) you were there with the five guys on set. How do you recreate the chemistry you have on TNT without Ernie Johnson there and just learning on the fly as opposed to being on TNT for 13 years now? Kenny Smith: The great thing about it is that it’s still basketball. We don’t have to change our thought process. I think fans will be interested if we have the same viewpoints as we do with NBA basketball; if we analyze college the same way we analyze the NBA. And that’s our job, to bring that to it. Ernie will be part of the early rounds for the first two weeks. So he’ll be part of that process as well and we’ll have a little bit more of a comfort zone doing it that way. But we’re excited about it more than anything. This is an opportunity to talk about the kids we would’ve been watching anyway. When the tournament was on we would’ve been out from 12 to 12, our TV would’ve been locked in on these networks. So this will be a fun opportunity. Lost Lettermen

Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

Now I know your partner Charles Barkley has already stirred things up with his Billy Packer comments. What’s your take on the Billy Packer -Charles Barley beef going on right now? Kenny Smith: Well I think Billy said something to the effect of, “How can they do college basketball?” But I was just surprised that Billy Packer was in my house and knew what I was watching (laughs). We’re excited about it. It’s obvious that you can do both if you do your homework. And our job, especially mine, is to comment factually what happens at the time. So when a team makes a last second shot, I’m going to tell you why they made it, should they have made it, what the defense should’ve done and why they should’ve done it. I could do that with a third grade basketball game if I’ve never seen the kids play. It’s all about understanding the moment, what Charles and I do and we live in that space and I live in that space all the time. What happens, why you did it and why you shouldn’t have done it. Lost Lettermen

Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith