Talk of Champions
Stories of the People Who Made Me: A Memoir
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- $229.00
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- $229.00
Descripción editorial
A revealing, humorous, behind-the-scenes memoir from Kenny "The Jet" Smith—superstar basketball commentator, host of the top-rated show, Inside the NBA, and two-time NBA champion. Smith reveals memorable inside stories of his playing and broadcasting careers, focusing on the star players, coaches, and mentors who inspired him along the way.
Kenny Smith was a star at the University of North Carolina before his storied NBA run, in which he won two championships with the Houston Rockets. His popularity skyrocketed when he joined TNT’s new show, Inside the NBA, which has thrived for twenty-four years and won multiple Emmys, receiving enormous acclaim for the insight, humor, social commentary, and unrivaled basketball coverage from Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson, Jr. Kenny is known to fans for his laser-sharp analysis and eloquent observations of the basketball scene and culture.
In this honest and profound memoir, Kenny writes chapters about each of the extraordinary people who taught him invaluable life lessons. He illuminates the personalities, affections, and quirks of friends such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kobe Bryant, among others, and what he learned from each of them. He writes about his legendary UNC coach, Dean Smith, and other indelible role models through his career. And he interweaves poignant material about his upbringing in Queens, New York, his parents, his children, and his marriage, explaining the rich knowledge he obtained from the important figures around him. Kenny is also a strong, intelligent voice on race, as his fans and TV viewers will know. Ultimately this is a revealing, humorous, and powerful memoir, offering a candid glimpse inside the rarified world of elite sports and broadcasting, with inspiring takeaways.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
NBA champion–turned–TV analyst Smith debuts with an uplifting look at the "people and experiences who made me." Recounting what he learned from his relationships with Charles Barkley (his colleague on Inside the NBA), Michael Jordan (his teammate at the University of North Carolina), and Bill Russell (his first coach in the NBA), Smith traces his evolution from a skilled high school baller in Queens to playing on the Houston Rockets' championship teams in 1994 and 1995. Smith credits his high school coach for pushing him to develop the work ethic needed to harness his natural talent. He describes getting pulled from the Rockets' starting lineup and helping his relatively green replacement up his game, for which he earned praise from Barkley that assured him he was doing the right thing by putting aside his ego for the benefit of the team. The backstage anecdotes offer revealing insight into a storied career, but the strongest moments are when Smith discusses using his platform to speak out against racism; he cites Sacramento Kings teammate Michael Jackson for teaching him the value of advocating for racial justice and inspiring him to walk out on an Inside the NBA broadcast in solidarity with players protesting police violence in 2020. Smith scores in this thoughtful and intimate outing.