Kenny Smith On Why His College Roommate Became A Plumber Despite Being The Heir To A Billionaire Family

Kenny Smith told the wild story of his college roommate becoming a plumber despite coming from a family worth billions.

4 Min Read

Credit: Fadeaway World

Kenny Smith is known for winning two championships on the Houston Rockets alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and being one of the beloved panel members on the Inside The NBA crew since retirement. 

‘The Jet’ is an entertainer, and he has some incredible stories to tell from his colorful life. He once shared the wild story of his college roommate at the University of North Carolina becoming a plumber despite coming from generational wealth.

“David Kohler. He was, he just roomed with me in the summers. David Kohler is the plumbing family. $7 billion plumbing family. So if y’all go to these bathrooms right now, you’re gonna see Kohler. That was my college roommate for the summers.

“So his family was, you know, they were probably close to $300-$400 million in business. So first of all I was like, ‘Why you not paying rent?’ When I found this out. Like, you sleeping on the couch and not paying rent. I’m like, ‘Why does your father not just make you an executive?’

“He said, ‘Nah, I gotta be a plumber first.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ Cuz where I’m from, I made it, we made it. We on. And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ He’s like, ‘Well because, he’s gonna make me be a plumber and then I go through the steps. So if I get the invoice as an executive for $7 for screws, I know that they’re really three.’”

That is an incredible story and NBA players need to learn from too. A lot of them have children that they hope will follow in their footsteps, but perhaps the best way to do it is to make them earn what they get. 


Shaquille O’Neal Followed A Similar Logical Path With His Massive Wealth

Kenny Smith’s colleague Shaquille O’Neal is worth well over $400 million, and he has six children. And when he talks about them inheriting his wealth, he maintains that he has certain parameters they have to meet if they want to get their hands on it

“My kids are gated community gangsters. They kind of got mad at this but I say, ‘In order to touch daddy’s cheese, you gotta have three degrees.’ Because I believe in respectable nepotism. We are not rich, I’m rich.”

The value of money is something we all have to learn at a young age to succeed in life. And if parents don’t do the job they did for Kenny Smith’s roommate and Shaquille O’Neal’s children, then stories like this can be great points of reference. 

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Divij Kulkarni is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He has covered the NBA and the English Premier League, with 4 years of experience in creating sports content. Finding exciting and intriguing content about all things NBA is both his job and his passion. Divij loves the Dallas Mavericks and can be regularly observed getting emotional during games. Outside of basketball, he enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, consuming copious amounts of movies and TV, and spending time with his dog, Olivia. Expertise: NBA, Historical Sports ResearchFavorite Team: Dallas MavericksFeatured On HoopsHype, Sports Illustrated, Secret Base, MSNPrevious Work: Tribuna
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