HoopsHype.com Rumors

Steve Kyler: Yannis (@Yannis Koutroupis) and I agree... were more people at the Kenny Smith party last night than Rookie Sophomore game. Maybe Sat will be better Twitter @stevekylerNBA

All-Star, Kenny Smith 

Here are some reactions from national media on the Westbrook incident: TNT analyst Kenny Smith: “The (team) chemistry is fragile. I hate to walk around the locker room on eggshells when a guy does something like this. Now you can't act natural around this guy for a couple days, and that really messes your team's morale up.” TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal: “Westbrook is one of the leaders of the team. In order to be a great leader, you have to be a great listener. He messed up. … He's wrong. He knows he's wrong. You move on.” Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Shaquille O'Neal, Russell Westbrook, Kenny Smith 

Chris Vivlamore: Kenny Smith on Josh Smith not making All-Star team: "You talk bad to coaches other coaches hear that." #ATLHawks Twitter @ajchawks

Atlanta Hawks, Josh Smith, Kenny Smith, All Star Game 

Mark Jackson: Thanks to @Kenny Smith for Speaking to my guys after the game! #NYC Twitter @JacksonMark13

Golden State Warriors, Coaching, Mark Jackson, Kenny Smith 

Q. What’s the secret to getting along with Charles Barkley on “Inside the N.B.A.”? Kenny Smith: The one thing I learned early — and we became great friends — is to stick to your opinion. When you believe something, Charles is great at either overtalking you or intimidating you out of your thought process. But for me, growing up and being a New Yorker, we’ve seen all of this, we’ve heard all of this. New Yorkers are great talkers. Charles actually appreciates people who will stand their ground. New York Times

Media, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith 

QUESTION: What do you make of the Lakers hiring Mike D'Antoni as their head coach? SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: The Lakers said they were built for a championship run immediately, so I think people are upset they didn't make the logical choice in Phil Jackson. But D'Antoni is a fabulous coach. He's going to bring a lot of excitement back. Kobe Bryant is one of the best players of all time. Steve Nash is happy that he's back. He's going to bring a slight element of Showtime back. KENNY SMITH: There were probably five or six candidates that were probably eligible with Phil Jackson leading the way. I'm not totally surprised at it. Mike D'Antoni has been on the Olympic team, has been around great players, coached Kobe and Dwight (Howard) before and has coached Steve Nash before. He's been on the staff. There's a familiarity with those guys. Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Coaching, Media, Mike D'Antoni, Kenny Smith 

QUESTION: How does D'Antoni's offensive system fit with the Lakers? O'NEAL: It's going to be good for Dwight (Howard). He's a great pick and roll big man. D'Antoni is an offensive wizard so he's going to keep everyone involved. He's the type that he's not going to yell at you for taking a shot. He just wants you to run hard and play hard. They're going to play with a lot of freedom out there. SMITH: If you played 15 minutes in your older system, you'd only have three or four shots. His system, if you play 15 minutes, you'll get nine shots. Your offensive output doesn't become an issue in not getting enough touches or the ball not going in enough places. He eliminates that by the style of play. Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Coaching, Media, Mike D'Antoni, Kenny Smith 

QUESTION: How fair is the criticism surrounding the defense in D'Antoni's system? O'NEAL: I don't think it's fair criticism. I won three in a row with Phil. We never worked on defense, as when I played for the great Pat Riley. Phil gave us the ability to figure it out. Our defense always started from guys on our team that wanted to play defense. Championship teams win because of team defense, not because of one guy shutting down your guy. SMITH: Because you're in transition, it's more difficult to play defense. The same way you want to get teams in 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 situations, you're in that. It is more difficult to play defense in that regard. But the fact is they have Gasol, Howard and Metta World Peace, who are three really good defenders. I don't think D'Antoni has had three defensive guys like that ever. You have shot blockers. That's the difference. Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Coaching, Media, Mike D'Antoni, Kenny Smith 

Kevin Pelton: Kenny Smith calls Seattle "top three, easy" as far as toughest places to play in the NBA. @sonicsarena Twitter

Seattle, Kenny Smith 

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