Kenny “The Jet” Smith is currently off the air for March Madness coverage because he’s reportedly under the weather and resting at home.

Quick Scoop: Where is Kenny Smith right now?

In the latest NCAA Tournament broadcasts (Round of 64 in March 2026), viewers noticed that Kenny Smith suddenly left the studio desk late in the night, shortly before the end of the Howard–Michigan game. The following day, he did not return to the CBS/TNT studio coverage and was replaced on set by Renee Montgomery, with host Adam Zucker explaining on-air that Smith was “under the weather.”

So, based on what’s publicly reported:

  • He left the studio early during tournament coverage due to an undisclosed ailment.
  • CBS/TNT said he was “under the weather,” which strongly implies he is at home or otherwise off-site resting, not on the broadcast desk.
  • There has been no detailed public explanation of the exact illness or condition, only that it was serious enough to keep him out for at least the next day of coverage.

Ongoing role and recent context

Even with this brief absence, Kenny Smith remains a high-profile basketball analyst. He is a longtime studio analyst for NBA coverage with the “Inside the NBA” crew (which has recently shifted over to ESPN while keeping a similar team and format). He also regularly appears as a main studio analyst for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on CBS/Turner, which is exactly the coverage from which he had to step away.

What people are saying online

On social and forums, the disappearance from the desk has sparked:

  • Concern about his health and speculation that he may be dealing with something more serious than a minor cold, because he left abruptly mid-event and then missed the next day entirely.
  • Nostalgia and debate about his on-air style, with some threads revisiting long-running arguments over his analysis quality and chemistry with colleagues like Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

Most of this is just fan speculation; the only solid, on-the-record detail is that he’s “under the weather” and off the desk for now.

TL;DR: Kenny Smith isn’t missing in some mysterious way; he’s temporarily off CBS/TNT March Madness coverage because he got sick, left the studio early, and is currently out while he recovers.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.