Kenny Smith has rung into the 60s club, joining Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson. The Jet’s birthday comes just two days after Shaquille O’Neal’s on March 6. And unlike his colleague, the veteran analyst doesn’t mind a big bash. After all, it’s his 60th birthday. This is also the last year of NBA on TNT, and the studio fittingly prepared a birthday surprise for the two analysts with a puppy! Joining the TNT family, fans began pouring in massive love and heartwarming wishes for the 2x NBA champ.

On this special day, the NBA on TNT family reflected on Smith’s most hilarious and best highlights from this year through an Instagram post and dropped a wholesome message. “It’s Jet’s special day today 🎉 Happy Birthday, @kennysmith!” The caption read. The second slide shows him simply enjoying some off time with the crew in the TNT studio, while the third shows him messing around with his colleague Chuck, who recently turned 62. The fourth has to be the most humorous.

Do you remember Smith complaining about snow in his car a few months ago? It was none other than O’Neal’s hilarious prank. Later, in CCTV footage, Big Aristotle was spotted sneakily cupping snow in his hands and shoving it onto Smith’s car. In this hilarious clip, the former Tar Heels player can be seen calling out the Lakers legend for the prank. 

After a legendary career in the NBA, with two championship titles with the Houston Rockets as a starting point guard, Smith joined the Emmy Award-winning show and has been part of it for years. The show is set to be licensed to ESPN by Turner, and if things align, the entire crew is likely to be seen intact from the next season onwards just on a different network and under a new name.

Smith’s TNT colleague Reggie Miller was one of the first few to take to Instagram to wish the veteran, along with fans. He reshared the NBA on TNT post for Smith on his IG Story and wrote, “Happy Birthday Brotha Class ‘87,” he wrote. However, any celebration will likely pale in comparison to the fun one that Smith had in the TNT studio a few days back.

Fans pour in birthday wishes for Kenny “The Jet” Smith

As O’Neal doesn’t prefer a big birthday bash, the studio was mindful to keep it low-key. They played Shaq’s own commercial of “Shaq-in-the-Box,” a personalized birthday song where he wishes himself a happy birthday. This wasn’t quite to the liking of Smith, which even Chuck agreed with. But he might like this netizen’s comment which read, “HBD to the GOAT instigator 👏🏾😂😂 The Jet!!!”

However, the crew had a special surprise in mind. Smith’s rumored girlfriend Tia Jurcic also wished him on IG story. “happy birthday ljubav.” He rehared it on his IG Story. For the occasion, the TNT crew also prepared two special birthday cakes brought by Tate. And in case you missed it, Tate is an adorable puppy. Smith’s legs are often likened to this little pug’s legs. 

In comparison to their bulky bodies and wrinkles, pugs have thin legs, which led netizens to draw parallels with Smith’s legs. The puppy, walking on its hind legs, placed its front paws on the cart as if pushing it, while the real star was the animal actor Michaela who lured Tate with food.

With a little help from Michaela, both Smith and Tate even raced to the backboard. Fans love this tradition just as much as they enjoyed Smith’s playing days. “Happy birthday jet by game not by name,” a fan wrote. Another wrote, “Happy born day to one of my faves out of Chapel Hill.”

To top it off, his birthday cake had a symbol of North Carolina, while Shaq’s had the Superman logo. This was the perfect way to celebrate his 60th.