There are many who believe that Inside The NBA on TNT is one of the best sports shows on television. So, what is the secret to that success?
On the latest episode of the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Kenny Smith said it was the ability to listen.
“I write shit down but if Jack [Stephen Jackson] says something that makes me go another direction, not even on that point, I’m going to stay with that because that’s where the topic is. We are listening instead of ‘I’m going to get this out about Kyrie tonight’…That’s the only thing that separates us. That’s a hard job to listen. You can’t just say okay, today I’m going to start listening.”
Smith said that it took a while for Shaq to figure that out. It was one of two ways Smith said he told the big man he could get better.
“I went to him first and I was like ‘bro, the stories that you say in the green room are bananas, you’ve got to bring them to the show. The other thing is this is the first time in your life you ain’t the most dominant player. We might be better than you at this, so just be you.’”
Before he got to TNT, Smith didn’t want to be in the media. Now, he has confidence to say he is one of the best basketball minds on TV. He told Barnes and Jackson that he shaped a lot of who he is on television based on what was missing.
“I think what makes me the best in the business is I see the peripheral. When I walked in here, I can see the environment that’s created and I can feel the energy of what part of each team that you pull from just based off a five-minute walkthrough. Those are things I bring to the show. There was a player that had an unbelievable game, a great player. I was like I’m not sure if his teammates like him because I can tell by their reactions on the bench, what’s authentic and what wasn’t.”
