Nicknamed "the Jet", he played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets.

Smith played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels, earning consensus first-team All-American honors as a senior in 1987.

[citation needed] He played some of his earliest basketball at New York's Riverside Church and at Stephen A. Halsey Junior High School in Rego Park, Queens.

"[7] Kenny Smith joined junior Michael Jordan and senior Sam Perkins on a North Carolina team that was a pre-season #1 and finished the season ranked #1 with a 28–3 record.

Smith was named a Consensus All-American (1st Team) as senior in 1987, averaging 16.9 points, 6.1 assists per game while helping North Carolina to return to the Elite Eight.

Playing in a game that featured eleven future NBA players, Smith led the Tar Heels with 25 points and seven assists in a loss to Syracuse, 79–75.

[11] Smith represented the United States in the 1986 FIBA World Championship, on a team that included David Robinson, Muggsy Bogues and Steve Kerr: the last to exclusively feature amateur American players.

He made his NBA debut for the Kings in their season opener against the Golden State Warriors on November 6, 1987, scoring 11 points with five assists in Sacramento's win.

Smith began his NBA career playing for Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who was head coach for Kings until he was fired 58 games into the '87-88 season.

[21][22][23] He was a reserve player for the first time in his career, averaging 7.7 points per game while only starting five of thirty-games he played for the Hawks as a backup to team captain Doc Rivers.

[27] Despite Hakeem Olajuwon missing 25 games due to injury,[28][29][30][31] Smith helped the Rockets to a 52–30 record, the best regular season in franchise history at the time.

[33][34] With Olajuwon, Smith's former Sacramento teammate Otis Thorpe and fellow backcourt mate Vernon Maxwell, the Rockets had the foundation for a championship contender.

[47][48] However he saw minimal playing time behind Lindsey Hunter and Joe Dumars, and was waived after only nine games to open a roster spot for Jerome Williams.

[1] Through 2016 Smith held the Denver Nuggets franchise record for career three-point percentage (.425), and ranked among the all-time leaders in several categories for the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets.

[57] Smith works with Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal on Inside the NBA, a winner of the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show.

Smith provided commentary for the MSG Network's broadcasts of New York Knicks games from 2005 to 2008 and works as an analyst for CBS/Turner during the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The New York Times has written that Smith's work in broadcasting has made him a household name, significantly boosting his public celebrity beyond what he had during his playing career.

[61] On the August 26, 2020 edition of Inside the NBA, Smith left the set as a show of solidarity with the six teams that elected to boycott the day's games in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake.

The live broadcast, originally scheduled to lead into a double-header, was turned into a panel discussion of racial injustice in America after the announcement of the games' postponements.