Why Kenny Smith is on ESPN NBA Countdown without Shaq, Charles

Kenny "The Jet" Smith is taking new flight at ESPN.

The popular studio analyst from the Inside The NBA show has added new roles at his new network.

Inside The NBA is now on ESPN this season after Turner lost its NBA rights and worked out a licensing deal to keep the crew of Kenny, Shaq, Charles and Ernie together.

But there aren't a ton of actual Inside The NBA appearances on ESPN broadcasts in the months ahead.

With that context, Smith has signed a new agreement with ESPN to add roles.

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Why is Kenny Smith on ESPN NBA Countdown without Shaq, Charles?

Kenny Smith  has added new roles at ESPN, and that's why he's making a special appearance on NBA Countdown on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

ESPN put out a release announcing Smith's new duties, and it specifically mentions this Nov. 5 Countdown appearance, so it's not evident that there'll be any more appearances on this specific show for The Jet.

Kenny Smith's ESPN contract

ESPN announced a new multi-year contract with Smith on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

In addition to the Countdown appearance, it lists these new duties:

• Primarily contributing to ESPN's First Take
• To serve as analyst for select NBA games

Specific terms of the deal were not announced. But it's clearly an additional deal beyond what Smith has on paper with the Inside The NBA team.

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