Despite a 94–34 rout by JSerra Catholic, Kenny Smith’s son’s stock rose. If you have followed Kenny Smith’s personal life up close, you’d know about his son Malloy Smith. The 17-year-old is a starting five player for his high school basketball team, the Mater Dei Monarchs. How has he been doing lately? Well, what we’ve seen is some major progress from him compared to his freshman season in high school basketball. A viral highlight suggests he may have outgrown even his improved averages!
In his freshman season, Malloy averaged just 1.2 points per game with hardly any contribution in any other department of the game. Whether it be getting to the ball of the board or playmaking. Fast forward to season 2024-25, and he has shown some significant improvement with his 6.2 points per game. Apart from this, his contribution in the rebounding department has also elevated from 0.5 rebounds per game as a freshman to 3.5 rebounds per game as a junior. However, a clip from his recent matchup against JSerra Catholic High School Lions has shown that there is still a lot to come from Kenny Smith’s 17-year-old son.
The clip shared by The Hoop Spill on Instagram featured Malloy going for a thunderous dunk over one of the Lions’ athletes, sending him crashing down on the floor. “Kenny Smith’s son catches a body,” read the caption to the thumbnail of the IG post. The Monarchs fell 94–34—yet Malloy’s thunderous dunk stole the show. However, despite the inevitable devastating loss, Kenny Smith’s 13-year-old garnered enough support in the comments for his iconic play.
His mother, model-turned-actress Gwendolyn Osborne, led the cheers. “That’s my babyyyyy [fire emojis]… So proud of him,” she wrote in two separate comments. Malloy’s dunk also earned praise from Florida Gators freshman Shaqir O’Neal. He seemed to be so impressed by Malloy that he fell short of words, responding with just a devil emoji in the comments for the 17-year-old’s play. However, this wasn’t the extent of the star-level support that Malloy managed to pull. Actress Monique Green, too, expressed her admiration for Malloy. “Ayee [fire and flexed bicep emoji],” she commented on the post.
Monique Green appeared on the 2018 reality series Meet the Smiths, which chronicled the Smith family. The series came when Malloy was just around 7 years old. To see him evolve to such an extent must’ve been wholesome for Green.
Kenny Smith has publicly celebrated his son’s progress, too!
The time when Kenny Smith could not contain his excitement at attending one of his son’s games
As mentioned earlier, the youngest athlete in the Smith household, Malloy, has been steadily rising in the basketball world. At just 17, the 6’6″ junior guard has already carved out a regular spot in summer camps by the start of this year. These days, you’ll find him suiting up for the Mater Dei Varsity Boys Basketball team, where he’s been making quite an impact.
On January 25, 2025, Mater Dei downed Crean Lutheran High School 71–60—an 11-point victory. Though Malloy’s stat line showed just 2 points that night, his relentless transition defense and timely cutting kept the momentum firmly in his team’s favor. But before the game, it was his proud dad, Kenny Smith, who stole a bit of the spotlight. The Rockets legend couldn’t hide his excitement as he posted the game tickets featuring Malloy’s picture, a moment only a proud father could truly cherish.
That ticket snapshot arrived months after Malloy celebrated his first scholarship offer—an Instagram post in February 2024 announcing a nod from California State University, Northridge. CSUN later featured him in an August 2024 clip highlighting his participation in Southside Hoops’ “Where You At” exposure camp, reinforcing his growing recruit profile across the West Coast.
Like father, like son—Malloy plays as a guard too. As Southside Hoops once noted, “2026 Melloy Smith is a 6’6 PG who is always under control and on balance. Frequently creates driving angles to attack the basket, doesn’t get rushed, athletic, and uses length well on the defensive end.”
With his older brother having pursued the Tar Heels pathway and Malloy now rapidly climbing the recruiting ranks, Kenny’s enthusiasm felt both like a personal keepsake and a public declaration of belief in his son’s rising trajectory.
And with his recent iconic play gaining some major fan support, he could be the center of attention in the coming days of high school basketball, and potentially in the future, the college basketball scenario too.
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