For decades, every time Kenny Smith jogs into view on Inside the NBA, viewers brace for his ‘dodgy knees’ quip. Inside the NBA relentlessly zeroes in on Smith’s sore knees, turning his pain into prime-time punchlines.. Smith himself cracks wise about the ancient ache—a coping mechanism born of genuine hardship. Despite dodgy knees, The Jet often takes part in one of famous segments on the show, and this time he found a way to protect himself.

During the recent broadcast of Inside the NBA, the 60-year-old did participate in the popular ‘race toward the board’. He’s lost countless ‘Race to the Board’ heats against Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and even the host, Ernie Johnson. Sometimes the losses are twice on one show. And the theme continued when he lost to Chuck, as he spoke about the Celtics-Knicks matchup. So during another board segment, Kenny Smith decided to change his strategy.

“A Deck of cards with no Joker,” the Queen’s native said this and ran to the board when Barkley noticed something different. “Oh, I got you taking your shoes off.” Smith explained he was running barefoot to avoid slipping and sliding. “I was like, I’m not sliding on this one. I wasn’t sliding.” After his loss to Chuck earlier in the day, the Rockets legend decided to run with a better grip. After the segment, The Jet Jogged back to his position and mimicked his viral running style.

But behind this laughter is an age-old pain. When Kenny Smith was in 11th grade in 1981, he suffered the injury with no physical contact. In his memoir, “Talk of Champions: Stories of the People Who Made Me,” the 2x NBA champion detailed the story. Racing to the Main Street subway station after school, Smith and his two friends heard the train pull into the station, so they hurried and slit into the train before the doors closed. Trying to catch their breath after the thrilling race, they collapsed into the seats, and that’s when they heard a terrifying pop and crackle.

Kenny Smith’s father’s sound advice helped him get back on his feet

“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.” When the 17‑year‑old Kenny Smith slid onto the subway train in Queens in November 1981, he had no idea a sudden “pop” would alter his life. His growth plate shattered, and a bone fragment lodged deep in his knee joint, forcing emergency surgery to remove the debris and stabilize the joint.

All he could think at the time was that his dream to play basketball was crushed. But his father provided an analogy to make him feel better. “This injury can stop you and you can become a lamb,” he continued, “Or you may put in a lot of effort to become a tiger.” That metaphor ignited a fire in Smith. Rather than surrendering, he committed to six months of relentless physical therapy—twice‑daily sessions of strength drills, range‑of‑motion exercises, and balance work under the watchful eyes of his father and older brother Vince.

Within three months, Smith progressed from crutches to stationary‑bike intervals. Then, to resisted lateral slides. Each milestone was celebrated by his family as proof he was choosing the tiger’s path. By spring 1982, he was running full court, drawing interest from top college programs when evaluators witnessed his restored explosion and newfound focus on conditioning. Some traits he carried from those early rehab days.

In his 2004 memoir Talk of Champions, Smith reflected that this crucible shaped not only his knees but his mindset: “I realized pain was a test; my dad’s words made me want to fight,” he wrote, crediting that family‑driven rehab for his eventual starring role at UNC under Dean Smith.

Decades later, when viewers see Smith dodging another board slip on Inside the NBA, it’s more than a joke. It’s a ritual echoing that teenage vow to be the tiger, not the lamb, and a reminder that without his father’s timely wisdom, the “Jet” might never have taken off