Stephen A. Smith floats unexpected candidate for North Carolina basketball coaching job
By Mark Kern
Published:
Stephen A. Smith has a ton of respect for Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith, who is a key part of why ‘Inside the NBA’ has been one of the most popular sports shows for a long time. Smith played his college basketball at North Carolina under legendary coach Dean Smith, and was named a First-Team All-American in 1987.
On Tuesday night, North Carolina coach Hubert Davis was fired after five seasons as the coach in Chapel Hill.
During a segment on First Take on Wednesday morning, Stephen A. let it be known that he believes his colleague should be the next coach at North Carolina.
“Knowing North Carolina, they’re looking internally first,” Smith said. “I believe that Kenny “The Jet” Smith is that dude.”
While he is beloved at North Carolina, Smith has never been a coach at the college or NBA levels. While he doesn’t have the experience, he has been interviewed to coach before. The Houston Rockets interviewed him in 2016, while the New York Knicks interviewed him for their job in 2018.
One thing that Stephen A. said that is true is that North Carolina has traditionally looked for a former Tar Heel to be the coach. While the Tar Heels haven’t been elite the last couple of years, this is still a job that figures to garner a ton of interest.
Here’s the latest Kalshi odds on North Carolina’s next head coach:
