While watching in the viewing room, Barkley spends a lot of time critiquing everything in sight -- the game, the referees, the coaches, the food, the staff, Smith.
On this night they're watching the surprising Atlanta Hawks taking on the heavily favored Celtics. One of the young Hawks, Josh Childress, has a throw-back Afro hairstyle that Barkley doesn't like.
"Kenny, Kenny," he calls out, "you and Josh Childress look a lot alike."
Smith, who shaves his head and looks nothing like Childress, doesn't respond.
"You do," Barkley says. "You got something in common."
Still no reply. "You're both ugly," Barkley says.
Smith finally rises to the bait, telling Barkley that he and Cleveland Cavalier Coach Mike Brown, who has just popped up on screen, look alike. "You both got Milk Dud heads," he says.
Before Barkley can counter that insult, somebody misses a wide-open jump shot on the big screen at the center of the monitor wall. Smith, who was one of the best shooters in the league when he played, expresses dismay. You can't miss wide-open jumpers, he says.
Barkley says why not? Nobody is going to make more than half of them.
Half? Are you nuts? "A good shooter will make 80 out of 100 of those," Smith says.
"Eighty percent? Nobody makes 80%," Barkley says. Smith, seeking reinforcement, telephones his brother, Vince, who coaches youth basketball and who confirms: 80%.
Barkley's not convinced. The discussion goes on a while, then comes the inevitable offer of a bet. They'll go to the gym tomorrow and Smith will shoot the 100 shots. Although retired for a decade, he has no doubt whatsoever he'll make 80. Barkley says, "I'm going to go to the bank tomorrow and get all my money. I got a sucker bet here." One wonders who the sucker is since Barkley has admitted losing millions in Vegas.
Smith decides he needs still more reinforcement. "Let's call Reggie," he says, referring to Reggie Miller, a colleague who sometimes sits in with the panel and on this night did the on-site commentary for the Cleveland-Washington game.
Miller is regarded as one of the best shooters in league history. Barkley will accept him as an expert witness only if he, Barkley, can frame the questions.
On the speaker phone, Barkley asks the question about the jump shot. Miller, who is at least as voluble and argumentative as Barkley and Smith, asks half a dozen questions about the situation. Good shooter, great shooter? How far? Unguarded? What gym? How much time? When he finally has all the information, he answers: "Seventy-five to 80."
