The latest stop on Kai Cenat’s journey for world domination took him to the worldwide leader in sports, and it was expectedly entertaining.
The day after appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Kai took his media tour to ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith, and as you might expect, their two big personalities together made for one hell of a segment.
Cenat and Smith immediately got into it about basketball with co-host Molly Qerim and a guest host. “What the hell took you so long?” said Smith as he immediately began to rib Cenat about this being his first appearance.
The lighthearted conversation took a turn when Cenat asked Smith if he could still hoop and “get on that court and ball out,” and Smith was offended by the suggestion that he couldn’t.
“Hell yes,” Smith said. “You damn right. I’ll tell you this much, with two jacked up knees, I could play better than you, bro, c’mon now. Watch yourself now. And yes, I can ball. Absolutely.” At this point, Cenat challenged Smith to some basketball, and Smith said he would have to bring crutches to “handicap” himself to give Cent a fair chance.
The co-hosts then asked Cenat for his basketball player comparison, and Smith was quick to say that the closest comparison on the court to Cenat is comedian Kevin Hart. Cenat and Hart have done multiple marathon streams together, so they are pals, but Cenat took exception to the comment.
“Kevin Hart?” Kai said, incredulously. “You just compared me to that little leprechaun? Kevin? It’s past his time. He can’t hoop for real no more.” Cenat then entered his own comedian mode, saying that others have compared him to NBA greats Allen Iverson, Jamal Crawford, and even Steph Curry.
Smith and Cenat were hilarious together on First Take, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them collaborate more in the future, especially as Cenat has been involved with NBA programming in the past like this year’s All-Star Game and more.
For Cenat, it’s been an incredible four years since he started streaming from an apartment in the Bronx in February 2021. His journey this year alone has included a Warner Bros-sponsored Batman marathon, a trip to the Grammys, and now The Tonight Show and First Take. It feels like anything is possible next.
