After winning almost everything in sight, including five Olympic and seven World Championship medals; Sanya Richards-Ross hung up her boots after two surgeries to treat a persistent toe injury. Finally, in 2016, she retired and had a third operation. Sanya might not be competing in the 2024 Olympics, but she and her husband, Aaron Ross, licensed their handcrafted loungewear sets to Olympians, Paralympians, and Team USA fans.

Recently Sanya extended her time on the sets of Inside the NBA, assisting basketball commentator Kenny “The Jet” Smith in rediscovering his athletic potential despite his much-discussed ‘inverted feet.’

Track and field legend helps NBA fame find his balance

Sanya Richards-Ross made her appearance memorable in the most recent episode, ‘Kenny Nearly Falls To The Board Again Despite Sanya Richards-Ross’ Training,’ which aired on the NBA on TNT YouTube channel on May 8, 2024. Smith, a former NBA player, was instructed to race up the show studio steps as Sanya Richards-Ross cheered, “YEAH, I FELL FASTER.” HOLD ON FOR ONE SECOND. WAIT UP. “You got it.”

Poor Smith felt peer pressure to consent to being trained when Sanya jumped in to hype him. All the while, “The Jet” continued to execute Sanya’s coaching by raising his right leg up first and taking a massive step, and ran two sets of the race to the board in the studio… and almost fell.

The hosts, including Sanya and Smith, broke out laughing in unison. Smith wouldn’t have ever imagined he’d be performing in the show for the audience. However, he eventually regained his running form and took three large strides on his own.

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What happened with Kenny Smith’s legs?

In 1981, while playing with his teammates George Kingland and Chris Sterling after school, 11th grader Kenny Smith and his friends raced to the Main Street subway station. As they entered the station, they heard a train pulling in, so they hurried to take their tickets and board the train before the doors closed. After their intense rush, they collapsed into their seats, only to hear a horrifying rupture and pop.

Smith recalled this experience in his memoir ‘Talk of Champions.’ He wrote: “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. The doctors said surgery was necessary, and just like that all my dreams fell into serious jeopardy.”

Kenny Smith had a lengthy road to recovery following the surgery. But, with his father’s counsel, “This injury can stop you and you can become a lamb,” Smith chose the tougher option. Smith, determined to beat the odds, began intense treatment sessions and went on to make a remembered NBA career.