mobile app bar

“Hakeem Olajuwon used to say all the time”: NBA legend Charles Barkley ends Kenny Smith’s career by calling him a waterboy on Inside the NBA

Amulya Shekhar
Published

"Hakeem Olajuwon used to say all the time": NBA legend Charles Barkley ends Kenny Smith's career by calling him a waterboy on Inside the NBA

No one is safe when Charles Barkley is mucking about. Kenny Smith was talking about Hakeem Olajuwon when he got the worst of Chuck’s roasts.

They say that life is lived best when you can have a hearty laugh about yourself. The Jet probably has to live by this motto considering how many strays he catches from Chuck and Shaq.

The former Houston Rockets guard won 2 championships in his time at H-Town. However, as good as he was in his heyday, Kenny was never a true NBA star – he was a great role player, but he couldn’t put a team on his back like the best in the business.

Also Read: “Celtics fans have a right to feel that way”: Kyrie’s father opens up about Kyrie Irving and his broken promise about returning to Boston

Having been an analyst on TNT since his retirement, Kenny might have thought his career would be looked upon favorably. However, if anything, his time on Inside the NBA is by far the most well-received part of his professional life.

This also implies that some of his less-than-glorious moments would be exposed for us all to see. When you’re sharing a platform with Chuck and Shaq, this risk tends to increase by several orders of magnitude.

Charles Barkley ends Kenny Smith’s career with a perfectly timed one-liner regarding Hakeem Olajuwon

The Inside crew were at hand to react to a busy weekend slate of playoff games. There was a ton of stuff that got talked about – a Celtics fan’s bottle-throwing antics were pretty high on the priority list.

But the single best moment of the day probably came about when the crew was discussing the Mavs’ demise at halftime of their Game 4 against the Clippers. While analyzing a key moment from the first quarter, Kenny made to reference a bit of wisdom from Hakeem Olajuwon:

“Hakeem used to say this to me all the time…”

Chuck found the perfect opportunity to sneak in a scalding burn by reminding Kenny of his role: “Kenny, bring me some water?”

Also Read: “Worst f**king feeling is wasted time”: Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell sends an NFSW tweet after playing only 5 minutes in Game 4 against Chris Paul and co.

Kenny is oblivious to this kind of insults by now, given the regularity with which Chuck dishes them. Still, it must rankle him a wee bit deep inside him. Just that wee bit. Right?

About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

x-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-icon

Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

Share this article