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Kenny Smith’s “Matchstick Knees” Leave TNT Fans and Co-hosts in Splits After Epic Fail on Live TV

Published 04/30/2024, 9:11 AM EDT

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Ouch! That must have hurt! Kenny Smith experienced an embarrassing and painful moment during tonight’s Inside the NBA segment. Fans and viewers are well aware of the crew’s penchant for bizarre antics and hilarious pranks, which often punctuate their valuable game analysis. But Smith’s unscripted and embarrassing moment left the entire crew and fans stunned.

While discussing the Los Angeles Lakers‘ performance at the halftime show, Smith fell on the stairs while racing up to the board. Soon, his colleagues began to tease him with Charles Barkley calling it his “Karma.” However, after a good laugh, the TNT crew asked him if he was okay. Earlier in his career, the champ underwent a serious knee surgery. In response, the Jet ensured that he was uninjured. But not so surprisingly, Smith’s fall set social media buzzing with hilarious reactions from fans. 

Fans get reminded of Spiderman after watching Kenny Smith’s fall 

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Fans must have already taken photos of Smith holding on to the stairs with his hands and his legs spread out straight. Those are making rounds on X. One viewer thought that it resembled Spider-Man attempting to stop a train and wrote, Them Knees Looking Like Spider Man Trying To Hold Back A Train.”

Smith, seen limping before the fall, must have been trying not to hurt his knees when he tripped and fell hence the awkward pose. One of the fans teased him and wrote, “Kenny and them matchstick knees.”

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Another hilariously commented on Smith having a hard time and wrote, “Kenny has been having a rough time lately lol.”

One of the viewers suggested that his knees are weak and must have thought that Smith is on a beach and wrote, “Kenny’s Knees was thinking of Galveston Beach.”

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It seems that his knees were the target. Many also pointed out about his knee surgery. While one of the fans wrote, “When you got elbows for knees, steps are a challenge,” another wrote, “Them knees finally catching up with em.”

While it looks painful, Smith’s ordeal is nothing compared to what his colleague got himself into once.

Shaquille O’Neal’s epic fall on live TV

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The situation wasn’t very different. In his haste to reach the screen, Shaquille O’Neal didn’t notice a tangled cord wrapped around his leg. This unfortunately caused him to trip and crash to the ground. Along with him, a monitor from the on-set desk came down crashing on the floor. This hilarious incident was in 2015 when he was covering the Philadelphia 76ers 97-92 win over the Denver Nuggets. Just like the present, fans went on to mercilessly troll the 4x champ for his embarrassing fall. Numerous memes had the photo of him falling off his chair photoshopped onto various scenes.

One had the image of Michael Jordan’s crying face fixed onto his and another had him photoshopped into a marathon race. Both were widely shared on social media. Luckily Shaq was unharmed and while the hilarious memes may not have been his intention, they certainly provided a good laugh. As Ernie Johnson previously mentioned, the show is unscripted. While the skeptical may have no doubts now, the Jet and O’Neal had it the hard way. 

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Written by:

Pritha Debroy

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Pritha is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. After reporting on the luxurious lifestyle of celebrities for a year, she used that experience to cover the glamor side of the basketball world. She has expertly covered Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan's complicated love story and the lavish vacations of NBA superstars, among other off-court scoops.
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Edited by:

Caroline Joseph