Why Does Inside The NBA Team Race To The Board? Fans Theories Brew About Its Mysterious Origin Story

Why are they running? You’ve probably asked yourself this question at least once while watching the traditional board race on Inside the NBA. Just recently, Big Aristotle even broke the big board in his excitement after winning a race against his opponent, Kenny Smith. This show tradition has been going on for quite a while now. And despite it being so important for the veteran analysts, there has been no proper explanation for it.

Never underestimate the fans, though. The fandom indeed has some interesting theories that will get you thinking.

Fans think it’s Kenny Smith is to blame!

“To make fun of Kenny and his knees,” a fan wrote. Not so surprisingly, if we see, Kenny The Jet Smith becomes one of the most popular reasons chosen by none other than the fans. Why? The Inside guys love teasing each other. This fan suggested that the cast might have started this tradition to make fun of The Jet who usually walks very slowly towards the screen.

Since Smith might have had struggles with his knees, these fans think that this race was to remind the 2x NBA champ to walk faster toward the screen. Smith too often joins either Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley or the race. During one of his solo races to the screen, Smith mistakenly fell just two steps from the screen. 

Some sympathize with Smith, saying that it must have hurt him. Others mercilessly trolled his hilarious fall, calling him Spiderman, who held onto the stairs with long legs spread out straight. That explains why some fans think that this is for “comedic purposes.” However, others pointed out it to be his knees.

Kenny Smith had undergone a serious knee surgery 

The NBA player once recalled how he sustained a terrible injury to his knee. When Smith was studying in Queens, he and his friends were in a rush to get on the train. In the rush, Smith broke his growth plate, which was a nightmare for the champ. 

“It sounded like I’d sat on a bag of potato chips. My first thought was to look behind me to see if there was indeed something on the seat, so I tried to stand. I couldn’t. My knee had gone extremely wrong, and I couldn’t even straighten my leg. By the end of the day, I learned that my growth plate had broken off and was dislodged inside the joint of my knee,” Smith recalled.

It depended on whether he would be able to compete in college games or make it to the pro league. He had to undergo knee surgery. And after a long recovery period, Smith was able to bounce back into the game as strong as before. “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,” The Jet recalled.

While he had a wonderful career winning 2 championship titles, it could be that the aftermath of his injury is now haunting his knees. Quite a genius and likely assumption by the fans, however, there’s no certainty to it. But, well, there are other enticing reasons.

Keeping this theory aside, there’s another fan who has an even more interesting theory.

Fans suggest the “money” factor 

One of these fans believes that money plays a part here and wrote, “Gotta be some money on it.” That’s a pretty intriguing opinion. Shaquille O’Neal loves putting his money on competition. While it’s unclear whether Shaq was joking, he claimed to have placed a bet of nearly $1 million on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson bout.

He placed it on the legendary boxer and of course, he lost it. Speaking of Kenny Smith and host Ernie Johnson, it’s very unlikely for the two to bet on something. And when it comes to Charles Barkley, the Philadelphia 76ers legend often publicly spoke about being fond of betting. He loves it, and once reportedly lost $1 million in a bet. But in any case, none of them will hide the truth.

But, does TNT add something valuable to this race? Why are the former NBA players turned analysts so keen on winning? As mentioned before, during the recent segment, O’Neal geared up for his race behind the set. After reaching close to the screen, the Los Angeles Lakers legend capped it by slapping the screen. And as an innocent mistake, he broke it which soon appeared to be glitching.

This kept getting more hilarious when Smith used the broken monitor for halftime analysis. Even though the mystery behind the race hasn’t been revealed yet, it just shows why the show Inside the NBA and its cast are so admired by the fans. 

Kenny Smith’s hilarious trick to beat Charles Barkley

And perhaps this is why this fan believes, “Because it’s a fun opportunity for chemistry and banter between hosts.” That is also quite plausible, and one of the incidents exactly shows how this tradition does indeed spark debates and hilarious antics among analysts. Getting back to Smith, the 2X NBA champ is so dedicated that he even plans tricks to win. If he has any issues with his knees, Smith isn’t letting it stop him. During one of his board races against Chuck, Smith intentionally placed a box next to his opponent’s chair.

Just as he expected, it slowed Chuck down while Smith raced to victory in the board race. “I knew you had peripheral vision, I knew you would reach for it and then I take off. There you go! You wanted to beat me on Day 1? Never!” Smith said to the Phoenix Suns legend.

Despite these theories, it might feel like we’re back to square one—but one of them could also hold the answer.