‘A PLEASANT SURPRISE’
K enny Smith has so much on his plate these days, either through his Turner Sports duties at NBA All-Star weekend and the NCAA Tournament or at his Left Coast-based production company, that he’s unsure if and when he will make it back to Houston to help the Rockets commemorate the franchise’s 50th anniversary. • Smith said he attended a function last year during the Final Four in Houston celebrating the Rockets’ mid-1990s championship teams but hasn’t returned this season as the Rockets bring in former players for a series of anniversary appearances. He said he hopes to make it Houston, however, before the playoffs. • As for the current Rockets, he said the team has struggled in his view after being one of the NBA’s early-season surprises.
“They’re coming back to earth a little bit,” he said. “We were surprised by how well they played early. One thing that hurt them last year was defense, and when they hired the (offensive-minded) Mike D’Antoni, I didn’t think that was the problem, but they have adapted to his style.
“I’ve been a little skeptical the last three weeks, but they have been a pleasant surprise.”
Keeping with the nostalgia turn, Smith said the role of NBA point guards is considerably different than during his tenure. If he had played in the 1990s the way that current point guards play, he said, he probably would have provoked the ire of Hakeem Olajuwon and Otis Thorpe.
“The things that are asked of you are so much different,” he said. “They’re playing pick-and-roll 80 percent of the time, and you’re allowed to come down off the break and shoot the 3-pointer, and not just stationary 3s.
“If I had played like most of the guards play now, you would have had to fight your teammates every week.”
The current style of play, though, would have created interesting lineup possibilities for the Rockets’ cast of characters.
“The guys today are ball-screen guys. They’re on the floor to ball screen and rebound, unless you can shoot 3s,” he said.
“You can play smaller now, so you could play Sam Cassell, Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon together. You’d have four guards, and Draymond Green would have to guard Clyde.
“And then you’d have Mario Elie coming off the bench. What else would you need? That would have been a very hard team (for opponents) to guard.”
Smith busy elsewhere
Off the court, the arrival of a new presidential administration makes this an interesting time for the off-the-court discussions that have become a staple of TNT’s “Inside the NBA” with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’neal.
“The NBA is never immune to what is going on,” Smith said. “Any religious issue, any social issue, any sexual issue, is going to hit the NBA the same way it hits society. There is a like-mindedness that is common of people in the same profession, and there is a consciousness (among NBA players) that I’m grateful that is starting to become aware.
“Without question, we (on “Inside the NBA”) have set the precedent to be free-spirited and to talk things seriously or with fun. I think we have become enablers for that. Having a voice to discuss what is going on feels empowering
at times.”
Smith also is focused these days on his work with Smith Entertainment Group, his TV and music production company in Los Angeles, and the careers of his daughters. His daughter Kayla Brianna was nominated for the iHeart Music Awards as best new R&B artist, and his daughter Monique is scheduled to appear on an ABC sitcom slated for this fall from the producers of “Blackish.”
All-Star Weekend schedule
Marv Albert will call his 22nd NBA All-Star Game as part of Turner Sports’ weekend activities, working alongside analysts Reggie Miller and Chris Webber with reporters David Aldridge and Kristen Ledlow, the latter being the host of “NBA Inside Stuff ” who will fill the slot held for so many years by the late Craig Sager.
TNT begins Friday with the Rising Starts Challenge at 8 p.m., followed by Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal telecasting from Champions Square in New Orleans. Kevin Harlan will host “All-Star Saturday Night” at 7 p.m. with Kenny Smith, Miller, O’Neal and Ledlow.
The requisite All-Star Weekend silliness will be embodied by “NBA Talent Challenge” at 4 p.m. Saturday, featuring such riveting moments as the Heat’s Chris Bosh playing guitar and Devin Booker of the Suns paying table tennis.
Four DVRs, no waiting
Barry Laminack, a Houston standup comic who has hosted a Sunday show for Gow Media’s radio stations, will join Joel Blank as co-host of the 1-4 p.m. show on KFNC (97.5 FM). … The Texas men and women’s basketball teams both will be in action at the same time on ESPN networks Monday night. The men are at West Virginia at 8 p.m. on ESPN, and the women play Baylor in a matchup of top-10 teams at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. Albeit exaggerating somewhat in this case, like the song says, you cannot get away. … ESPN says it averaged 6.03 million viewers with a 3.4 Nielsen rating for Kevin Durant’s return to Oklahoma City for the Warriors-Thunder game Saturday on ABC. That was the most-watched non=Christmas NBA game on the network since a 2013 Lakers-Heat game on ABC. The game had a 3.1 rating on KTRK (Channel 13). … After a long absence, HBO Sports will get back into the sports documentary game with a film on Andre the Giant, produced in cooperation with World Wrestling Entertainment and the Bill Simmons Media Group. … Officials with Charter, the new owner of the Dodgers’ regional sports network SportsNet LA, told the Los Angeles Times they don’t expect any new carriage agreements with DirecTV or other carriers before opening day of the network’s fourth season. Meanwhile, a hearing is scheduled March 13 on the Justice Department’s suit against AT&T, which owns DirecTV, over potential antitrust violations in carriage talks. But questions linger as to whether the new administration will pursue the case. … Another Super Bowl ad metric from Visible Measures, which tracks online video ads: Budweiser’s “Born the Hard Way” led all advertisers in online views at 34.8 million, followed by Wix.com’s “Disruptive world” at 27.9 million. Both, along with the balance of the top 10, were released prior to the game. Tide’s “#BradshawStain” and Bud Light’s Spuds McKenzie spots made the top 10 despite not being released until game night. Visible Measures also said that Super Bowl campaigns totaled 337 million online views totaling 3.3 million hours as of Feb. 6. … Ad Age readers, meanwhile, voted Airbnb’s “We Accept” as the best Super Bowl campaign, followed by 84 Lumber’s. … College gymnastics generally gets short shrift, but the presence of Olympic gold medalists Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian at UCLA has prompted ESPNU to pick up the UCLA-Utah dual meet at 9 p.m. Saturday. … Having left ABC’s “Good Morning America” for NBC and NBC for CBS News, former ESPN anchor Josh Elliott has left CBS, the network says.