Despite retiring from the NBA in 1997 and serving as little more than a high-end starting role player, Kenny Smith remains one of basketball’s most recognizable names due to his work in the broadcast booth with NBA on TNT. The second-longest-tenured member of the lovable Inside the NBA crew, Smith joined Turner Sports immediately following retirement in 1998 and has been an integral part of their programming ever since.
Advertisement
With 27 years of broadcasting experience now under his belt, Smith’s career on TV has long outlasted his career as a player. After playing alongside Michael Jordan and helping extend the University of North Carolina’s dominance after the Bulls legend departed, Smith was drafted sixth overall in the 1987 NBA Draft.
A highly-touted prospect who played alongside several other solidified NBA talents, Smith was a skilled playmaker, but never came close to the stardom of his former college running mate. Smith had a solid career, nonetheless, spending 10 seasons in the league before injuries ended his tenure in the league at just 31 years old.
At this point, Smith has undoubtedly earned more as a broadcaster than the reported $11.9 million he received through NBA contracts. The real question is just how much more the former guard has earned in his post-playing career. One report stated that the two-time champion was earning between $13 and $16 million per season with TNT, but that claim is unsubstantiated.
It would also be an incredibly high number for an analyst like Smith, who isn’t known to stand out like Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal do. ClutchPoints reports a more realistic number for Smith, sharing that he earns roughly $4 million each year for his work with TNT. Even if that smaller number if the truth, that number blows Smith’s NBA contracts out of the water.
Smith never earned more than $2.6 million in a single season of his career. In most years, it was even less than that. When he first joined Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets, he wasn’t even paid a full million dollars. Smith may have been able to live off of his NBA earnings, but the extra fortune he’s added through broadcasting has kept his pockets full.
It’s likely Smith’s salary has gone up compared to recent years and especially to when he first started his broadcasting career. But at this current rate, it would only take him three years to surpass what he earned from a decade of NBA service. While inflation certainly complicates this math, it is absolutely absurd to think about how the NBA landscape has changed financially.
With Inside the NBA no longer owned by TNT, only time will tell how much that will affect Smith’s net worth, which reportedly sits around $22 million currently. ESPN will have to make sure to keep their new employees happy, or Ernie, Chuck and Kenny could all decide retirement is the better option.
