Kenny Smith played in the NBA most notably for the Houston Rockets. While on the Rockets, Smith helped the team to win back to back NBA Finals Championships. He was named a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1988.
After his great career in the NBA, Smith became an analyst for TNT. Along with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson Smith is part of great team that breaks down games each season in the NBA. 
Kenny is also a proud father. His daughter Kayla a singer with hit songs like “I Got That.” I was able to sit down and chat with Kenny about this year’s NBA Finals, fatherhood, and his basketball camps. Click here for more info on his camps!
Art Eddy: First off let’s talk NBA Finals. Spurs and Heat. What is your take on the series so far? Are you surprised with the two games that were blowouts?
KS: I wouldn’t say surprised. The adjustments have been made. I don’t think I am totally surprised. The Spurs over the season and when they get down about 15 points (Gregg) Popovich pulls the cord because of the age of his team. They don’t try to make that second or third run especially when the series is tied 1-1. That adjustment that the Spurs made giving that 15 foot jump shot to Dwyane Wade and LeBron James probably was the difference in Game 3.
AE: Are you sick of everyone putting LeBron James under the microscope? He passes too much or he shoots too much. Is the chatter getting annoying?
KS: He has a little bit of Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. They all have had something like that in their careers because of their talent. I don’t look at it that way. Game 1 they said he would shoot too much, but he had 18 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists. Those are absurd numbers.
Those numbers are not attainable by mortals. I don’t understand what that is. You think about it. If he won Game 1 we might have said it was the greatest all-around performance in all of NBA Finals history.
AE: You won back to back NBA Championships with the Houston Rockets. It is tough to repeat right?
KS: Just getting into the playoffs and the NBA Finals is super difficult. Being a contender is a very difficult feat. That is why you don’t see multiple championships all the time. You don’t see it on a regularity. There are so many variables that help you win a championship over such a long season that it is very difficult to do.
Everything falls in place. When you do it and you a part of a championship team or even if you are part of a contender you relish that. You know how important that is.
AE: Was the second title sweeter?
KS: I couldn’t say sweeter. I would say that it was more difficult. I thought it took more people to have more moments. Coming from a sixth seed and not having any home court advantage lent us to be a tighter knit group. More people had to have big nights other than your best players.
We had guys throughout the season averaged 10 points a game come up with 25 points nights. Guys who averaged four rebounds got would get 16 rebounds a game. Those types of things happen for us. That made it more difficult, but it also made it more fun. So I would say more fun, but not sweeter.
AE: Let’s talk about another highlight in your life. You are a proud father. Your daughter Kayla is a singer. How proud of her are you?
KS: I am super proud. I think Kayla has been exemplary of what hard work and dedication can do. I know nothing about the music business. I can’t sing. I can’t dance. Well I can dance a little. She is blazing her own trail in our family. She is working with the some of the best producers and singers that we are in awe of.
When she brings them to the house or when we go to the studio we are awe of as a family. We are kicking each other under the table like look who she is working with. It is a lot of fun.
AE: You are in the spotlight from playing in the NBA and now doing great work on TNT. What have you said to her about being in the spotlight?
KS: You have to be content with your work habit and your work ethic. When you know that you put in the work the results are going to be what you want. That’s the thing I bestowed upon her. That’s all you can live with. You can be happy about it. You are going to walk out the studio, the arena, whatever it might be, you are going to be happy because you know you put the work in.
She understands that. Her new single with Meek Mill “I Got That” is part of that work ethic. I’m like you get it. I saw her in the studio for seven, eight hours. I am like are you ready yet? She says no. I say okay I’ll come back and pick you up. People forget the 12 hour days to make one song.
AE: What were some of your first thoughts when you became a dad?
KS: I think the first thing is that I thought of my dad. All the things that my dad, my mom that they bestowed upon me. What they were able to give me outside of materialistic things I want to bestow upon mine. I want to be at every game. I want to be at every game. I want to be at every recital.
I want to be at every moment that I know was special to me more than waking up at Christmas and seeing a bicycle. I remember those other moments more than the moment getting that bicycle for Christmas.
AE: Tell me about your basketball camps?
KS: Well for my basketball camps you can get all the info on my website. I do one in California and that is in June from the 23rd to the 27th. I do one at North Carolina at the University of North Carolina. The kids play at the “Dean Dome.” It is July 12th to the 17th. I have been doing camps for 18 years. This is not new to me. I have had some great players. I have had some great people come through. From NBA players to doctors and lawyers have been participants, lecturers, and campers.
To listen to the entire interview with Kenny Smith, click here.