Kenny Smith has spent the past 26 years working with Turner Sports and TNT’s NBA coverage in some capacity. And as a co-analyst on TNT’s Inside the NBA, fans expect Smith to have expert familiarity with today’s NBA. After all, that’s what he gets paid to talk about on TV.
Saturday, though, was not Smith’s best effort. He told on himself all night and even had Reggie Miller utterly perplexed with some of the remarks he made.
Smith drew harsh criticism for his comments about Sabrina Ionescu using the NBA three-point line in her showdown with Steph Curry. But during the regular three-point contest, Smith was admittedly surprised that the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton could shoot threes at such a high frequency.
Kenny Smith: “I didn’t know, Reg, that [Haliburton] could shoot the ball with this frequency.”
Reggie Miller: “Don’t you watch games?”
Kenny: “No, this year. As he’s doing this year.”
Reggie: “Like, what are y’all doing in the studio?” pic.twitter.com/kQnKrnconk
— Hardwood Junkies (@hardwoodjunkies) February 18, 2024
It was such an odd remark for an NBA analyst to make on national TV that Miller responded with, “Do you watch the games?”
Miller had a point. It’s not like Haliburton suddenly started shooting a high percentage this year. He’s a career 40-percent three-point shooter, and he’s been taking six threes per game throughout his entire career (and nearly eight this season). He shoots threes a lot and shoots them well. Smith should have known that one of the game’s best three-point shooters could, well, shoot.
Fans were also not impressed with Smith’s performance on the night, and they were glad that Miller called him out.