Charles Barkley teases Kenny Smith over absence from March Madness studio coverage
By David Wasson
Published:
Sometimes, even the most well-maintained Jet needs unplanned maintenance.
And so it was Friday on the March Madness television set, as Kenny “The Jet” Smith was absent from the second day of 2026 NCAA Tournament coverage. The former North Carolina and NBA great took ill Thursday night during the Michigan-Howard game and was replaced Friday on set by two-time WNBA champ Renee Montgomery.
It didn’t take long for frequent Jet foil Charles Barkley to poke fun at Smith’s absence Friday, remarking to the camera, “Keep your shirt on at the beach, Kenny”.
Montgomery, who won two WNBA titles with the Minnesota Lynx after a stellar collegiate career at UConn, was right at home on the TBS/CBS/TNT/TruTV set beside Adam Zucker, Clark Kellogg and Barkley – diving right into analysis of Friday’s first-round matchups. Montgomery is a studio analyst for CBS’s WNBA coverage and is also an activist and part-owner of the Atlanta Dream.
Smith’s absence is the second broadcasting illness so far in this NCAA Tournament. Play-by-play voice Brian Anderson, who was noticeably hoarse during Tuesday’s First Four game in Dayton between NC State and Texas that he called alongside Barkley and Dick Vitale, was replaced Thursday for a quartet of games by Jason Benetti on CBS and TNT.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
