What prevents Kenny Smith from playing ice hockey? There’s no end to Inside the NBA cast’s hilarious antics. Whether it’s heated debates, a board race, or just Chuck taking yet another shot at his colleague laughs never stop. This time, the one on the receiving end was none other than Kenny Smith. As a special guest on Inside the NBA steered the conversation toward a sport other than basketball, Smith got teased for his knee issues again!

The latest segment of the show welcomed Canadian former ice hockey player Paul Bissonnette, and the Inside crew was clearly curious about a lot of things. That was when an intrigued Smith questioned Bissonnette about playing on the pond and opened up about his fear. “How do you know like the ice is not going to break and you be in the water? That would be my biggest fear. I just, I never played hockey,” Smith revealed.

Before the 2x NBA champ could get his answer, Chuck was quick to interrupt the conversation with a hilarious remark about Kenny’s knees.

“Hold on Captain Obvious, you’ve never played hockey report with those legs. Can you imagine with those knees you on skate,” Barkley teased. Later, Bissonnette did share that he played on a lake that was too deep and luckily he never faced such an issue, but it had become just another moment for the former Houston Rockets star to add to the list of jokes surrounding his knees. 

One might remember “The Jet” getting trolled for his inverted knees during an Inside the NBA segment. At the time, when Luka Dončić made an appearance, a distant shot showed Smith’s knees uncomfortably bending toward each other.

And once, Inside the NBA including Charles Barkley ruthlessly roasted Smith when he tripped on his way to the board. Perhaps it’s his knees that keep troubling the 2x NBA champion.

What is wrong with Kenny Smith’s knees?

That question takes us all the way back to the time when Smith was studying in Queens. He hadn’t yet gone to college. While hanging out with his friends, Smith was rushing to get on the train. The champ and his friends managed to slip into the train and sank into their seats out of exhaustion. And just around that time, they heard a loud pop. It was Smith. He had injured the growth plate in his knee. After a doctor visit, he was told that he needed surgery. 

“I learned that my growth plate had broken off and was dislodged inside the joint of my knee. The doctors said surgery was necessary, and just like that all my dreams fell into serious jeopardy. Playing on national television, advancing to college and the NBA—it was all endangered,” he opened up about it. He discussed further in his memoir, Talk of Champions: Stories of the People Who Made Me.

It was even more difficult after this. He had dreams and aspirations to play college basketball and then head toward the pro level. However, this hurdle scared him until he got an advice from his father. “This injury can stop you and you can become a lamb. Or you may put in a lot of effort to become a tiger,” Smith said once about his father’s advise.

Smith chose to fight, as he rightfully should. His therapy sessions and six-month recovery period were successful, and the rest, as we know, is history.