'NBA on TNT' analyst Kenny 'The Jet' Smith makes MVP pick, discusses Celtics' and Knicks' title chances
Smith discussed his NBA predictions with Fox News Digital
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The NBA season has begun, and basketball fans can score big.
Basketball fans who place a $5 NBA wager on FanDuel will receive three months free of NBA League Pass, where they can watch every game in the association.
If you're a new user, and you win your bet, FanDuel will give you $300 in bonus bets.
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Kenny Smith before the NBA Finals game between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics on June 6, 2024, at the TD Garden in Boston. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
"It’s the gift that keeps on giving… Just bet responsibly, and you’re good," FanDuel hypeman Kenny "The Jet" Smith said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
Smith himself admits that he is "not a big bettor, but I was always the king of the office pool." Of course, the TNT analyst doesn't need League Pass, but if he were placing that $5 bet, he'd have an idea of what to wager on.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’m putting it on a parlay so I can win more. The most absurd parlay so I can get something ridiculous back. That would be me…" Smith joked. "But Giannis [Antetokounmpo will be the MVP of the league this year."
"There’s a lot of guys that will lose votes because they got great players now playing with them. I think Paul George will grab votes from Joel Embiid. I think it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. I don’t think Dame Lillard grabs votes from him even though he’s an all-NBA type of performer," Smith added.
Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks reacts to a score against the Boston Celtics at Fiserv Forum on Jan. 11, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smith can also find some value in the New York Knicks winning the title, a team he says is now "a true contender" to win it all.
"To me, the Knicks have put themselves as a contender. Before, they were trying to make the playoffs – now, they’re trying to not get beat in the playoffs. Whole different mindset. Adding [Karl-Anthony Towns] and [Mikal] Bridges puts everyone in their right position, and they can tap into their superpower. They are a true contender to win the NBA title."
They, of course, need to take down the reigning champion Boston Celtics, but he says they could "100%" compete with their Eastern Conference rival.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, it will be a tall order.
Jayson Tatum of the Celtics celebrates with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after the NBA Finals game against the Dallas Mavericks on June 17, 2024, at the TD Garden in Boston. (Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
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"Their fourth and fifth men, there’s no other fourth- and fifth-best players as good as them on any team. There’s no player as good as [Kristaps] Porzingis as the fourth-best player on a team… Their fifth-best player Derrick White] played more than their best player in the Olympics. Think about that… and they didn’t even take the second-best player [Jaylen Brown] on the Celtics. That tells you how good the Celtics are."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For the record, a $5 wager on the parlay of the Celtics winning it all, along with Antetokounmpo winning MVP, would win you about $190.
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