NBA on TNT host Kenny “The Jet” Smith owes a lot to Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, he told Anthony Gargano on 97.5 The Fanatic on Wednesday.
Smith hopped on with Gargano to talk about his new book Talk of Champions: Stories of the People Who Made Me, and said that there are plenty of stories about the fun that’s been had on the TNT set with Chuck and Shaq. But Kenny wanted to make sure people are aware of just how much they both impacted his life.
“What Chuck gave me was a voice. Because before he got there, people used to only ask me basketball questions,” he said. “No one asked me questions about finance, social justice, politics. Now we talk about that just on the show. So you’re always in it. So he gave me a different voice. Even when I don’t agree with him.”
From a financial perspective, Smith said he’s had the chance to pick Shaq’s brain. O’Neal has tons of ventures away from TV, and Smith said Shaq opened his eyes to a lot of things. Kenny felt it was important to share that in the book.
“Those are stories that you need to know,” he told Gargano. “You only see us pushing each other into the Christmas tree. And these guys have influenced the way I move business-wise.”
