The Duke boys are unleashing the Devil on everyone coming their way. Another matchup and another blowout victory for the Duke Blue Devils! Just like the First Round exploits against the St. Mary’s, the Second Round opponents’ Baylor Bears were trailing at the halfway mark. Next, they face Arizona this Thursday, intending to sweep the Sweet 16 too. Their star Cooper Flagg once again contributed with 18 points and received praise from the broadcaster Kenny Smith. But more than the game, something else caught everyone’s attention. The acclaimed TNT analyst also was caught sleeping on air, and guess what? This is not the first time.

Quick to lap on the issue, a user on X added, “Kenny Smith couldn’t look up for 12 full seconds and it was only halftime of Duke’s second round game 😂😂😂. This dude is down way worse than is necessary somebody get him a chamomile tea.” Probably bored with the one-sided carnage the Blue Devils unleashed? Because it indicates only one thing, the blow-away lead in the first half was not entertaining enough for The Jet! It was in April last year, during the Inside the NBA show, the NBA legend was caught sleeping. And his co-panelist did take a shot or two for sleeping at the workplace.

Then, Charles Barkley first sarcastically asked, “Are we keeping you up jet?” Ernie Johnson’s jab followed next, “Oh! Are you fading?” But the former point guard knew how to defend himself. “1:30 now, it was during the break…only time I’m up, it’s got to be some music and alcohol.” The 60-year-old blamed the late-night scheduling and later shifted the blame towards his co-host.

“If Chuck wasn’t so damn boring, I would be up! I’d be wide awake. Put me to sleep with all these comments.” Not sure who Kenny Smith will blame this time for falling asleep during March Madness. But the 2x NBA champion was spot on with his assessment of the Maine native. “I have been saying this the whole tournament Cooper Flagg has the luxury to develop even though he has the superstar potential. He has the luxury to develop because because of all the players around him.”

These comments were after the 89-66 win for the Blue Devils. “At Duke, he (Cooper Flagg) doesn’t have to play great to win, he just has to play well. And that’s a big thing for a freshman with so much things on him.”

Decoding Kenny Smith’s comments about Cooper Flagg

Apart from the consensus number-one pick of the 2025 NBA draft, Duke’s performance was a complete team effort. Even the coach praised it post-game against the Bears. “The preparation for this game started with great respect for Scott Drew, to win by this margin speaks to this group’s killer instinct and connectivity – and the Sweet 16 sounds great to us!”

It was Tyrese Proctor who went nuclear with 25 points on 9/10 FG. Patrick Ngongba, Mason Gillis, and Caleb Foster supplied bench production with a combined 20. Along with them was Cooper Flagg, who scored 18 with nine rebounds and six assists on 5-11 shooting. This is a glaring example of what Kenny Smith was talking about. The Maine native had a very good game against Baylor, but Proctor’s performance was the best of the day, which propelled Duke to win by a wide margin. Despite not being the top scorer, the Freshman forward had team-high assists and rebounds.

Let’s not forget that Flagg suffered an eye injury during the game, but luck by his side, this wasn’t severe. Up next, Duke will now prepare for a Sweet 16 matchup, with No. 4 Arizona who beat No. 5 Oregon by a slender margin of 87-83! Hopefully, the Arizona boys keep up with the Devils to keep it interesting at the halfway mark, or someone might again point out a sleeping Smith.