Kenny the Jet Smith enjoyed a productive NBA career from 1987-97, most notably 1990-1996 in Houston where he won back to back titles with the Rockets in 1994 and 95. He even garnered a few MVP votes after the 1990-91 season as the Rockets starting point guard. It was also around this time that I became obsessed with basketball and the Houston Rockets. Watching wrestling and cartoons all of the time was starting to get old for me anyway. One of my first and fondest Kenny Smith memory is this dunk contest...
For the next few years, when I would play basketball at the Monroe YMCA, I would imitate the first dunk on their smaller hoops. It was consistently one of my favorite dunks for years to come. What's interesting about Kenny Smith too is that he isn't all that tall at 6'3" so being in several contests made him even more fun too watch. I guess I emulated my inner Kenny Smith for those four months in 2000 when I was dunking on regulation. Kenny Smith never won any awards and he never even led the leage in any statistical categories. Still, he was a part of back to back championship teams in Houston that some of us still salivate over. It was the team of him, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson that helped keep me interested in watching basketball after the lockout in 99. Smith has also given a hell of a lot of his time to good causes, the Hurricane Katrina benefit game in 2006 being one of the more well known benefits Smith has thrown together. It is good to see someone putting their spotlight to good use. Happy Birthday Jet.
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