Kenny Smith caught a straw from fellow studio analyst and former NBA MVP Charles Barkley in the wake of NBA’s top-75 list going public.
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Today’s slate of NBA games was quite the wild ride. We had 2 blowouts to start off, with Atlanta and Miami making mincemeat of their opponents within the first half. This was followed by an all-time performance from Steph Curry to lead the Warriors to the dub.
But despite some spectacular play from all sides, and especially Steph, perhaps the best moment of the evening was when Chuck got on Kenny’s back in an inimitable fashion.
Charles Barkley ends Kenny Smith with a brutal burn ahead of Clippers vs Warriors
The Inside crew were debating the merits and demerits of the top-75 players list put out by the NBA today. According to all 4 of Kenny, Chuck, Shaq and Ernie, a few players have erroneously missed out on it.
However, this opened the window for them to discuss a few players who could’ve made the cut. Barkley and Shaq were prominent features on the NBA’s top-50 list 25 years ago. They’re also featured heavily on this one as well.
But poor Kenny Smith, who had a legitimately successful NBA career from all standpoints, doesn’t quite begin to approach the caliber of any of the players listed here.
His name wasn’t even on anybody’s mind as a possible contender. And if it was, Chuck shut that thought down brutally, saying “In about 20 years, you gonna be on the list. The 5000 best NBA players…”
Charles Barkley to Kenny Smith: “In about 20 years, you gonna be on the list. The 5000 best NBA players…” pic.twitter.com/0ExymdALvn
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) October 21, 2021
This incident simply adds to the practically unending collection of Kenny roasts that Chuck has made over the years. It’s right in line with the time he interjected Kenny talking about Hakeem to call him a waterboy.