Kenny Smith: From UNC Standout to NBA Champion and Broadcasting Icon

Kenneth "Kenny The Jet" Smith, born on March 8, 1965, is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player who left an indelible mark on the sport. This article delves into his illustrious college career at the University of North Carolina (UNC), highlighting his achievements, statistics, and the impact he had on the Tar Heels basketball program. His journey from a promising high school talent to a consensus All-American, NBA champion, and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster is a testament to his dedication, skill, and charisma.

Early Life and High School Career

Kenny Smith was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, 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 honed his skills and garnered attention as a top prospect.

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."

Arrival at North Carolina

Smith came to Carolina as another of UNC's several outstanding recruits from in and around New York City. Five of those have been highly decorated point guards, and that sub-category includes Larry Brown (1960-63), Jimmy Black (1978-82) and two of Smith's successors, Derrick Phelps (1990-94) and Ed Cota (1996-2000).

Impact on the Tar Heels

Kenny Smith's college career at UNC from 1983 to 1987 was nothing short of remarkable. He brought the confidence and grit of his home turf to the ACC, and he had another undeniable element: speed. He quickly established himself as a key player, contributing significantly to the team's success.

Freshman Season (1983-1984)

Kenny 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.

Sophomore Season (1984-1985)

He led North Carolina to the Elite Eight in 1985, losing to eventual national champion Villanova. In that role, he has the liberty to reference one of the best games of his college career, a 22-point, six-assist performance against Barkley's former club, Auburn, in the 1985 NCAA Tournament. That result put the Tar Heels into a regional final against Villanova.

Senior Season (1986-1987)

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. As a senior, Smith averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 assists over four NCAA games as the Tar Heels again made the Elite Eight and fell just short, 79-75. He recorded 25 points and seven assists in that final game, played against Syracuse.

Key Statistics and Achievements

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. From 1983-87, Smith doled out 768 assists, the second-highest career total in ACC history at the time.

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.

Read also: The Story of Kenny Clark

Playing Style and Impact

Smith brought the confidence and grit of his home turf to the ACC, and he had another undeniable element: speed. A head-and-shoulders fake followed by a devastating first dribble often left opponents compelled to help from the wings or the post. Smith then had the touch to make pull-up intermediate shots or find a cadre of teammates that included Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty and Michael Jordan. Such are the options every point guard dreams of, and Smith generally made the right choice. Along with a two-to-one assist-turnover ratio, he shot better than 50 percent from the floor in all four seasons. Smith only earned first-team All-ACC honors once, as a senior in 1987, but that's a testament to the depth of talent in the league over anything else.

International Play

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.

NBA Career

The Sacramento Kings selected Smith with the sixth overall pick of the 1987 NBA draft. He made his NBA debut for the Kings in their season opener against the Golden State Warriors on November 6, 1987, scoring 11 points with five assists in Sacramento's win.

Sacramento Kings (1987-1990)

Under head coach Bill Russell (who would step down as coach to become General Manager mid-way through the season), Smith was immediately a starter in Sacramento, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (1st Team) after averaging 13.8 points and 7.1 assists per game his rookie season. In 81 starts his second season, Smith averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 38.8 minutes per game.

Houston Rockets (1990-1996)

After the 1989-90 season, Smith and Roy Marble were traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for John Lucas and Tim McCormick. In 1990-91 Smith averaged 17.7 points per game while leading the Rockets in assists per game (7.1) and free throw percentage (.844). Despite Hakeem Olajuwon missing 25 games due to injury, Smith helped the Rockets to a 52-30 record, the best regular season in franchise history at the time. With Olajuwon, Smith's former Sacramento teammate Otis Thorpe and fellow backcourt mate Vernon Maxwell, the Rockets had the foundation for a championship contender. Despite this, Houston started the 1991-92 season only 26-26, and Don Chaney was fired as coach and replaced by former Rocket player Rudy Tomjanovich. The Rockets then went 55-27 in 1992-93, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the playoffs in seven games. The Rockets won back-to-back championships in 1993-94 and 1994-95 with Smith as the starting point guard. From the 1992-93 to 1994-95 seasons, Smith averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 assists per game, with a three-point percentage of .425. The first of the two championships concluded a year that Houston started hot with a 22-1 record en route to a franchise-best 58-24 record. In the first game of the 1995 Finals against the Orlando Magic, Smith had 23 points, 9 assists and made seven three-pointers, including the game-tying shot which sent the game into overtime. Smith's 7 three pointers in the first game of the 1995 NBA Finals was an NBA record at the time. Smith had been gradually losing playing time to Sam Cassell, but he continued to be the Rockets' starting point guard through the 1995-96 season. Although Smith's points, assists, steals and minutes per game declined for the fifth straight season, he was still productive in 1995-96.

Read also: Learn about Bishop Kenny

Later NBA Career (1996-1997)

In 1997, Smith then signed with his third team in that season, the Denver Nuggets. Smith averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 assists while playing just under twenty minutes per game, also serving as a mentor for the young Denver team.

Career Statistics

In his professional career, Smith scored 9,397 points (12.8 avg.), recorded 4,073 assists (5.5 avg) while shooting .480 from the field, .399 from three-point range, and .829 from the free throw line. He finished in the NBA top ten in three-point percentage three times (1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95), and top ten in free throw percentage twice (1992-93 and 1993-94). In the 1988-89 season Smith was fifth in the league in minutes played, seventh in minutes per game, and tenth in total assists.

Broadcasting Career

Smith joined Turner Sports in early 1998, working as a studio analyst for end of the NBA regular season and the playoffs. Smith works with Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal on Inside the NBA, a winner of the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show. Smith covered basketball for the 2001 Goodwill Games, and he occasionally appears on NBA TV as an analyst. Smith provided commentary for the MSG Network's broadcasts of New York Knicks games from 2005 to 2008 and works as an analyst for CBS/Turner during the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. On the August 26, 2020 edition of Inside the NBA, Smith left the set as a show of solidarity with the six teams that elected to boycott the day's games in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake. In October 2022, Smith signed a long-term contract extension with Warner Bros.

He is further buffered from obscurity by virtue of his TV career, in which he is a foil for the comical, off-the-wall declarations of his Turner Sports comrade, Charles Barkley. Quick witted and subtle, he is essentially the straight man to Barkley's comedy.

Personal Life

Smith has been married twice. He has two children from his first marriage: Kayla, an R&B singer, and K. After divorcing his first wife, Smith met English model Gwendolyn Osborne in 2004 at a charity event. They married on September 8, 2006.

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