Kenny Smith’s net worth is $20 million and has been built up over his career as a sports commentator. Kenny Smith, born Kenneth Smith, also known as The Jet, has a longstanding career as a sports commentator and basketball player.
He used to be a professional basketball player that played in the NBA, or National Basketball Association, from 1987 to 1997.
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Kenny Smith had a long and lucrative career as a basketball player having played for the Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Orlando Magic. As a member of the Houston Rockets, Smith also won back-to-back NBA championships.
Who is Kenny Smith?
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Kenny Smith is best known as a retired basketball player who used to play in the NBA. Currently, he is a television basketball analyst and sports commentator.
Kenny Smith is also known as an NBA studio analyst for the TNT Emmy Award-winning show called Inside the NBA. He is a former basketball player and has also been a sports commentator for some time. The show Inside the NBA is exceptionally popular and highly entertaining. During the NBA season and all through the playoffs, the show runs weekly.
Kenny Smith is also the head studio analyst for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that appears on CBS Sports. In 2015 he was also a star on his own reality TV show called The Smiths which also featured the rest of his family.
Although he had become a familiar face on TNT TV, Kenny Smith also became an NBA expert at Yahoo Sports and a game analyst on FOX Sports Net. He was also a game analyst on MSG for the New York Knicks games. Not only that, but Smith expanded from TV and tried his hand at radio. He was the host of an NBA radio show on SiriusXM.
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Kenny Smith Nowadays
In recent years Kenny Smith has made headlines for numerous sports legacies. In January 2021 he was the recipient of the 16th annual National Civil Rights Museum’s Sports Legacy Award. The award is given to an individual that displays significant dedication and contribution to both human and civil rights, the social justice movement, and paving the way for future leaders in sport.
Kenny Smith is not only a great basketball player, but he is also an entrepreneur. He currently runs the Kenny Smith Entertainment Group. This is an entertainment and sporting events company and he also launched something called the Jet Academy. The Jet Academy hosts virtual basketball camps for children.
Kenny Smith’s Early Life
Kenny Smith was born on the 8th of March 1965 in Queens in New York. He went to school at the Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens as well.
This was likely where his fascination with basketball began as the high school had a rich tradition steeped in basketball. It was also the school of certain standout performers like Brian Winters, Robert Werdann, and Kenny Anderson, who happens to be Kenny Smith’s cousin.
Kenny Smith’s career likely kicked off in high school already and that is where he got his professional nickname, the “Jet”. A local sportswriter attended some of the high school games that Smith played in and saw the lightning-quick Kenny Smith play against their rival school, Christ the King High School.
The game was an in-season game and the sportswriter wrote about it the very next day. The writer saw how Smith would continuously “jet” down the court for a few lay-ups, and that is how he got his nickname. The reporter wrote this term in the article and the nickname, The Jet, stuck.
In that same year, Kenny Smith was also named a High School All-American and he was chosen to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game that took place in 1983 in Atlanta. Later he went on to play under the legendary coach Dean Smith in North Carolina and he soon became a 4-year starter, which was very rare.
Over the course of those years, Smith played alongside several future NBA superstars including Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, and Brad Daugherty.
Upon his graduation in 1987, Kenny Smith was the record holder for the school for the most assists with 768. This included at least 86 assists in NCAA Tournament plays and he subsequently received the accolade of Basketball Times Player of the Year.
Kenny Smith’s College Days
Kenny went on to play basketball for the University of North Carolina. Unlike many other sports stars who choose to abandon their studies in favor of their passion for sport, Smith finished his studies. He graduated with an Industrial Relations degree in 1987.
Kenny Smith’s Net Worth
Kenny Smith’s net worth is $20 million which he accumulated over a lifetime dedicated to sports. He started out as a high school and then college basketball player before he played for the NBA. He then went on to support the sport as a commentator and analyst and TV sports personality. All of this contributed to his significant net worth today.
Kenny Smith’s Career
There are multiple stages of his career to take into account when one considers Kenny Smith’s net worth. Smith started playing basketball in college and this translated into a career of playing for the NBA. He later went on to support the sport through commentating and analysis.
Kenny Smith’s College Career
It is common knowledge that Kenny Smith played alongside the legendary Michael Jordan on the North Carolina team. This team secured a pre-season number one spot and finished the season with the number one ranking still in place. The record for them that season was 28 – 3. Smith was a star player with an average of 9.1 points in a game as well as 5 assists per game.
In 1985, Kenny Smith was part of the team that took North Carolina to the Elite Eight where they eventually lost to Villanova who was the national champion at the time. As a first-team player, Smith then received the accolade of a Consensus All-American when he was a senior in 1987. For this season, Smith amassed an average of 6.1 assists and 16.9 points per game.
Playing in the Elite Eight again, Smith was at the head of the team that lost narrowly to Syracuse with a score of 79 – 75. This game also featured eleven other future NBA players, including Kenny Smith.
In 1984, Smith and his team were victorious in the Atlantic Coast Conference season championships. In the following year, they tied for first place and in 1987, they won the season championships again. Over the course of Kenny Smith’s attendance, North Carolina never finished lower than the eighth position in the national polls.
Kenny Smith was a fantastic college basketball player and in 2016 he was ranked second in all of school history. This title was due to his history of total assists. He also ranks fourth in total steals and fifth in assists per game.
Kenny Smith’s International Career
Kenny Smith was such an incredible player that he soon left college basketball to play internationally. He represented the United States of America at the 1986 FIBA World Championship. The team that he played with included the likes of Muggsy Bogues, Steve Kerr, and David Robinson.
On this team, Kenny Smith was second in scoring only to Charles Smith. He had amassed 14.7 points per game and in an 87 – 85 win against a Soviet Union team, Smith himself scored 23 points. The losing team in that game featured Arvydas Sabonis, another well-known player.
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Kenny Smith’s NBA Career
Kenny Smith’s net worth can be attributed to his salary working as a sports commentator and analyst, but a lot of it is thanks to his fruitful NBA career. He had a long career with the NBA which saw him become a household name and accumulate a great deal of his fortune.
Kenny Smith’s Early NBA Career
In the 1987 NBA draft, Kenny Smith was chosen as a 170-pound, 6’3” point guard for the Sacramento Kings. It was the sixth pick and he was then called to the NBA All-Rookie first team once he had scored an average of 13.8 points and 7.1 assists per game as part of the Kings.
The start of Kenny Smith’s NBA career included him playing for Bill Russell, a noted Hall of Famer, and he was the head coach for the Kings before he was fired after 58 games in that season.
Smith was then traded to the Atlanta Hawks halfway through the season of 1989 – 1990. Here he became a reserve player for the first time ever in his career and he scored an average of 7.7 points per game. The iconic thing is that he managed this score while only having started five of thirty games and he was the backup of the captain who at the time was Doc Rivers.
Kenny Smith’s Time with the Houston Rockets
Kenny Smith is probably most famous as a player for the Houston Rockets. He started playing for the Rockets after the 1989 – 1990 season and he would stay with them for the following six seasons. It was here that Kenny Smith started building his reputation. In the 1990 – 1991 season, Smith would score an average of 17.7 points per game and he led the Rockets with 7.1 assists per game.
During his first season with the Rockets, Smith would finish in seventeenth place for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He scored higher than his teammate Hakeem Olajuwon.
The Rockets then switched coaches after Don Chaney, the head coach, was fired after amassing only a record of 26 – 26 in the 1991 – 1992 season. Rudy Tomjanovich who was a former player for the Rockets replaced him and they missed the playoffs by one game under his coaching. The Rockets also then lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the playoffs’ second round.
The Highlight of Kenny Smith’s Career with the Houston Rockets
Kenny Smith is probably most famous as a player for the Houston Rockets. He started playing for the Rockets after the 1989 – 1990 season and he would stay with them for the following six seasons. It was here that Kenny Smith started building his reputation. In the 1990 – 1991 season, Smith would score an average of 17.7 points per game and he led the Rockets with 7.1 assists per game.
During his first season with the Rockets, Smith would finish in seventeenth place for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He scored higher than his teammate Hakeem Olajuwon.
The Rockets then switched coaches after Don Chaney, the head coach, was fired after amassing only a record of 26 – 26 in the 1991 – 1992 season. Rudy Tomjanovich who was a former player for the Rockets replaced him and they missed the playoffs by one game under his coaching. The Rockets also then lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the playoffs’ second round.
The End of Kenny Smith’s Career
The Houston Rockets would release Smith after the close of the 1995 – 1996 season. After he had left the Houston Rockets, Smith would be signed to the Detroit Pistons where he played just nine games. After these nine games, he was signed to former rival Orlando Magic for whom he only played six games.
After Orlando Magic, Smith would be signed to the Denver Nuggets and it was with this team that his career ended. The Denver Nuggets would win just 21 games the season that Kenny Smith played for them and Smith got an average of 2.4 assists and 6.3 points per game. This was, of course, the lowest average of his career to date.
A Summary of Kenny Smith’s Basketball Career
Kenny Smith had a long and lucrative professional career. He managed to score 9397 points, 4073 assists, and shot .480 from the field, .829 from the free-throw line, and .399 from the three-point range.
In the three-point percentage field, Kenny Smith finished three times in the NBA’s top ten and twice in free-throw percentage. For the 1988 – 1989 season, Smith finished fifth in the league for minutes played as well as tenth for total assists.
Smith won two of the NBA championships playing for the Houston Rockets in both 1994 and 1995. In total, he played ten seasons for the NBA and that included teams like the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, and Denver Nuggets. In 1988 he was also a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team.
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Kenny Smith and TNT
Kenny Smith became a member of Turner Sports in 1998 and he would continue to work as a studio analyst for the rest of the NBA’s regular season as well as the playoffs. Smith would also work on the show Inside the NBA which won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show. On Inside the NBA, Smith worked with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson Junior.
Smith is a fairly well-known face on television having covered basketball for the Goodwill Games of 2001 and regularly appearing on NBA TV as a sports analyst. He also gave commentary for the MSG Network’s broadcasts of the New York Knicks games between 2005 and 2008. He also works as an analyst for CBS and Turner focusing on the NCAA Men’s Division Basketball Tournament.
Kenny Smith Height and Weight
As is the case with all basketball players, Kenny Smith is tall and slender. He stands 6’3” (1,91 m) tall and weighs 170 lbs (77 kg). Kenny Smith is an African-American male with dark brown eyes. Nowadays Kenny Smith has no hair and keeps his beard trim, but he used to wear his black hair cropped close during his basketball days.
Kenny Smith Personal Life and Family
Kenny Smith’s parents, Annie Mae Smith and Kenny Smith Senior raised him and his brother, Vincent Smith, in LeFrak City. He now has a large and extended family having been married twice.
Kenny Smith had his first marriage to Dawn Reavis with whom he has two children. Kayla Brianna, his daughter, is a well-known R&B singer. His son Kenneth Junior (K.J.) followed in his father’s footsteps and is a basketball player for the University of North Carolina that Kenny also attended.
Kenny Smith was divorced from Dawn Reavis and found love again with a former model of The Price is Right, Gwendolyn Osborne. The two met in 2004 at a charity gala and were married in September of 2006. The couple have two children. Malloy Adrian, his son, was born in 2008 and his daughter, London Olivia, was born in 2012.
In 2018, Gwendolyn filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
Kenny Smith’s Net Worth and Bio Summary
Kenny Smith was born Kenneth Smith and he is a former NBA basketball star and current sports commentator and analyst. Kenny Smith’s net worth is $20 million built up over his years as a professional basketball player and sports legacy.
| Name | Kenny Smith |
| Real Name | Kenneth Smith |
| Age | 57 |
| Place of Birth | Queens, New York |
| Occupation | Former NBA Player, Sports Analyst |
| Net Worth Estimate | $20 million |