On Tuesday (Nov. 26), Jalen Rose sat in for Kenny Smith on the popular show “Inside the NBA.” Rose stopped working with ESPN last year, but was a perfect co-host on the TNT program.
Rose was at ESPN for more than a decade before being laid off in 2023. He made appearances on shows like “First Take” and was an analyst for 10 seasons on “NBA Countdown.”
Alongside Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson, he managed to keep the jokes coming.
At the beginning of the show, Barkley playfully quipped that “Kenny got fired, hopefully.” Johnson chimed in by saying, “The week of Thanksgiving, Kenny off, I don’t know—you guys tie the loose ends together.”
One of the funniest moments on the show was when Rose clowned Barkley’s eyewear when the Hall of Famer put on glasses to read stats. “Are those welding glasses?” Rose asked.
Rose also said Barkley looked like Tyler Perry’s popular character, Madea. Then O’ Neal commented that it looked like Barkley was getting ready for a Marvel Thanksgiving with his “future a** glasses.”
Rose didn’t stop there. In addition to making fun of Barkley, he also addressed Drake’s controversial lawsuit (“I don’t know if y’all should be playing that Kendrick...Y’all gonna get a lawsuit up here”) and even lampooned Shaq for having dry skin.
“You look at Shaq’s hands? He got 150 businesses, he needs to invest in some lotion,” he remarked. Fans were seemingly loving Rose’s presence. One user on X wrote: “You know Jalen fits like [a] glove up there. Maybe NBC should give him a call for the NBA.”
Another fan called Rose “the only acceptable substitute” for Smith, citing how funny he was throughout the show.
Earlier this month, Rose joined NBC’s Big Ten College Countdown on Peacock. Johnson, O’Neal, Smith and Barkley have worked together on “Inside the NBA” since 2011.