"You can't grow yours either": Jalen Rose hilariously pokes fun at Kenny Smith's beard on TNT
On Thursday, Jalen Rose filled in for Charles Barkley on the TNT panel alongside Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O'Neal. While the Chuckster left big shoes to fill on this evening, Rose fit right in with a well-placed quip at one of the panelists.
During the pre-game coverage for Game 6 of the Detroit Pistons-New York Knicks series, the TNT team showed clips of Rose hitting big shots during his NBA heyday in the 2000s. After the reel was played, Smith took a playful jab at Rose by alluding to a career lowlight of the former Toronto Raptor:
"You know, in the video, I thought he was going to bring...I would like to see 81 different..." Smith said as he flashed a mischievous smile. [Timestamp - 1:05]
Smith had no need to finish his thought there as Rose understood exactly what he was referring to. The mention of 81 was a dig at Rose — who was then playing for the Raptors — getting cooked by the late Kobe Bryant on January 22, 2006. Bryant's 81-point performance remains the second-highest single-game scoring output in NBA history.
A quick-witted personality himself, Rose immediately fired back at The Jet:
"81 different versions of that beard?" Rose said. "I can't grow mine. You can't grow yours, either!" [Timestamp - 1:13]
Spontaneous banter like this has made TNT's NBA coverage over the past decades, and Rose proved once again on this night that he can hang with the best sports personalities on television today.
Jalen Rose takes a dig at Luka Doncic following Lakers' Game 5 loss
Not satisfied with his hilarious takedown of Smith — who had no retort — Rose kept the joke going.
Right before Johnson launched into a spiel about upcoming games on TNT, Rose claimed that Luka Doncic recently had a defensive performance that was worse than Rose's coverage of Bryant back in 2006:
"Luka gave up more last night than I gave up in that game," Rose said. [Timestamp - 1:34]
This quip — which references Doncic's defensive lapses in the LA Lakers' Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves — drew split reactions from the panel: Smith disagreed, while O'Neal said "Yeah, he did."
With the Lakers having been eliminated from the playoffs, the TNT panel will have more time to dissect (and, indeed, poke fun) at the purple and gold squad's performance this season.
