{"id":273867,"date":"2025-04-11T04:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T04:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/kenny-smith-recalls-charles-barkleys-hilarious-animal-bet-payoff-on-live-tv\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:08:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:08:54","slug":"kenny-smith-recalls-charles-barkleys-hilarious-animal-bet-payoff-on-live-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/kenny-smith-recalls-charles-barkleys-hilarious-animal-bet-payoff-on-live-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenny Smith recalls Charles Barkley&#8217;s hilarious animal bet payoff\u00a0on\u00a0live\u00a0TV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"4869523\" data-slug-id=\"2468378\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The beloved show \u201cInside the NBA,\u201d featuring Ernie Johnson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/charles-barkley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Charles Barkley<\/a>, Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kenny Smith, aired its final regular-season episode on Thursday night \u2014 and the hosts took a moment to look back on some of their most memorable moments from the show\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Kenny Smith recalled his all-time favorite: the infamous donkey-kissing incident involving Charles Barkley after losing a bet. As Smith told it, the wager was made back in 2002 during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/yao-ming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Yao Ming<\/a>\u2019s rookie season, when Barkley boldly claimed the Chinese big man would never drop 20 points in a game.<\/p>\n<p>Yao ended up hitting the 20-point mark six times that year. So to settle the bet, Smith didn\u2019t hold back \u2014 he brought an actual donkey onto the set and made Charles Barkley fulfill his promise.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"bets-today-poll\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"preview-card-holder bets-today-poll\">\n<p><span class=\"date\"\/> \u2022 <span class=\"time\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"march-madness-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/march-madness-logo.png\" height=\"42\" width=\"99\" alt=\"march madness logo\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMy favorite moment is when Chuck had never seen Yao Ming play \u2014 he was a rookie \u2014 and he said, \u2018Yao Ming would never score 20 points in a game, Kenny, and if he does, I&#8217;ll kiss your ass.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Smith said he had to get creative to make the moment count.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI had to think outside the box,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSo I bought in a donkey after Yao Ming scored 20 points, and Charles had to kiss the donkey. But instead of kissing a donkey anywhere, because it isn&#8217;t big \u2014 a donkey is an ass \u2014 he actually kissed the donkey on the ass.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/embed\">\n<div class=\"yt-wrapper\">                    <noscript><iframe title=\"Charles Barkley kisses Kenny Smith&#039;s Donkey\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SOK0mVRPfdk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube\" data-embed=\"SOK0mVRPfdk\">\n<div class=\"play-button\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" height=\"370\" width=\"660\" data-img=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/SOK0mVRPfdk\/sddefault.jpg\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/SOK0mVRPfdk\/sddefault.jpg\" class=\"lazy-img\" alt=\"youtube-cover\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Barkley chimed in, saying he had no interest in kissing any animal on the mouth \u2014 unless it was a dog.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI&#8217;m not going to kiss an animal on the lip,\u201d Barkley said. \u201cI&#8217;m not going to kiss it unless it&#8217;s a dog.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBut the butt is better?\u201d Smith asked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cYeah,\u201d Barkley answered, as the set broke into laughter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Inside the NBA&#8221; debuted in 1989, the same year TNT began broadcasting NBA games. Ernie Johnson became the full-time host in 1990 and has remained ever since. Kenny Smith joined in 1998, followed by Charles Barkley in 2000 and Shaq in 2011 after he retired from playing.<\/p>\n<h2>Charles Barkley backs Clippers as second-best in the West<\/h2>\n<p>With the Western Conference standings in a gridlock, things are far from settled. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/oklahoma-city-thunder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">OKC Thunder<\/a> have locked up the top seed, sitting 14 games ahead of the No. 2 Houston Rockets. The Lakers have a firm grip on the third spot with two games left to play.<\/p>\n<p>But the real battle is from seeds 4 to 8 \u2014 where just one game separates all five teams.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Charles Barkley made a bold prediction about the conference: after the Thunder, he believes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/los-angeles-clippers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">LA Clippers<\/a> are next in line.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI&#8217;m gonna say something crazy right now,\u201d Barkley said. \u201cThe Clippers might be the second best team in the West.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhen healthy. But they&#8217;re healthy. Hey, Kawhi Leonard&#8217;s amazing to me man. \u2026 Yes. I think the Clippers are the best team after the Oklahoma City Thunder.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Clippers, who are riding a six-game win streak, sit at No. 5 with a 48-32 record \u2014 tied with the fourth-place Nuggets. Their final two games are crucial: first against the Sacramento Kings, and then a big showdown with the No. 6 Golden State Warriors, who are just behind them at 47-33.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-author-info-parent\">\n<span class=\"about-the-author\">About the author<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-pic-holder\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"author-pic\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,&lt;svg width=\" height=\"100\"\/><rect width=\"100\" height=\"100\" style=\"fill:rgb(128, 128, 128);\"\/>&#8221; data-lazy=&#8221;https:\/\/keedag.sportskeeda.com\/user-pic\/1253811-1730125987-200.jpg?w=200&#8243;<br \/>\nalt=&#8221;John Ezekiel Hirro&#8221; height=&#8221;72&#8243; width=&#8221;72&#8243;&gt;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author-bio-detail-holder\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p class=\"author-bio\" id=\"author-bio-text\">\nJohn Ezekiel Hirro is an experienced NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda, with over five years in the field as a news correspondent, sports writer, and Editor-in-Chief. His sports writing career began in high school, where he garnered numerous accolades, including being named the national sports writing champion in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>He earned his journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines in 2024 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Varsitarian, the university&#8217;s official student publication, for four years\u2014the longest in history.<\/p>\n<p>A passionate basketball enthusiast, he became a fan of the OKC Thunder during the Russ-KD-Harden era. Russell Westbrook, his all-time favorite athlete, impressed him by stepping up as MVP after Kevin Durant&#8217;s departure. His current favorite players include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who he believes are the future of the OKC franchise.<\/p>\n<p>He excels in game analysis and rapid news story turnaround, drawing inspiration from the journalistic styles of Woj and Shams. He emphasizes thorough research to ensure accuracy in his articles. One of his most memorable moments is Russell Westbrook breaking Oscar Robertson&#8217;s record with his 42nd triple-double and securing a 106-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Outside of writing, he enjoys listening to music and creating Spotify playlists.\n<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"author-know-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/author\/hirrojohnezekiel-0b23b\" aria-label=\"Author know more\">Know More<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by John Ezekiel Hirro<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script> \nvar fbPixelFired = false;\nvar pixelID = \"952063904834769\";\ndocument.addEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\ndocument.addEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel, { once: true, passive: true });\nfunction loadFBPixel() {\nif(fbPixelFired) {\nreturn;\n}\nfbPixelFired = true;\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? \nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, \ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', pixelID); \nfbq('track', \"PageView\");\nfbq('track', 'ViewContent');\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"scroll\", loadFBPixel);\ndocument.removeEventListener(\"mousemove\", loadFBPixel);\n}\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/basketball\/news-kissed-donkey-a-kenny-smith-recalls-charles-barkley-s-hilarious-animal-bet-payoff-on-live-tv\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] The beloved show \u201cInside the NBA,\u201d featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kenny Smith, aired its final regular-season episode on Thursday night<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}