A few weeks ago, Stephen A. Smith was seen training with Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews, widely regarded as one of the best shooting coaches in basketball. Smith, who played collegiate basketball at Winston-Salem State University, has divulged his abilities to score on the hardwood and will now be taking part in a contest from the NBA Cup in Las Vegas. The ESPN personality will face a cast member from the award-winning TNT Sports studio show, Inside the NBA, in a free throw shooting challenge.
Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA recently settled a lawsuit pertaining to media rights negotiations, resulting in a new 11-year deal between both entities that involves select international and digital rights. In a concomitant transaction, the TNT Sports division has licensed Inside the NBA to ESPN, which will air the show surrounding marquee events throughout the season, such as Opening Night, Christmas Day games and the NBA Finals. There are also reports of TNT Sports developing an Inside Sports show that would implement the cast in discussion spanning beyond basketball.
The two companies collaborated on an endeavor last year from the In-Season Tournament through crossover segments between NBA pregame shows. As part of this enterprise, Smith appeared on Inside the NBA and participated in a special edition of “Who He Play For?,” the annual game that generally tests the knowledge of Charles Barkley surrounding offseason player movement. It has not yet been determined which cast member of the show Smith will face, although it was a topic of discussion on Tuesday’s edition of Inside the NBA.
Out of the three former NBA players who appear on the program, Kenny “The Jet” Smith had the highest free throw percentage in his career at 82.9. Charles Barkley was a 73.5% shooter from the line, while Shaquille O’Neal shot 52.7% on these attempts. O’Neal proposed a four-on-four game between ESPN and TNT personalities as an alternative, although it remains unknown if that proposal will become reality.
“This ain’t a first pitch fellas,” Smith replied on X. “I’ll give [Kenny “The Jet” Smith] a chance in a FT contest – Queens (NY) in the building. I’m beating Chuck. [Shaq]? Why are you even talking? NO CHANCE. [Ernie Johnson]: I humbly stand down to you, sir. See y’all this Saturday. Love y’all.”
The semifinals of the Emirates NBA Cup will take place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 14 with the first game airing at 4:30 p.m. EST on TNT. Preceding the matchup will be Inside the NBA supplying pregame coverage from the site of the game. Later in the day, ABC will televise the other semifinal matchup beginning at 8:30 p.m. EST and air its NBA Countdown pregame show beforehand. The broadcast network will televise the championship matchup of the In-Season Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 8:30 p.m.
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