The segments Smith said he is most proud of are ones examining civil rights, such as when the show broadcast from the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. The willingness to engage in politics and more nonsports topics came when Barkley joined the show, Smith said.

“What Charles made me do was to be much more poignant and aware of my social thought process,” Smith said, adding: “Sometimes, his points are like a flashlight. And you can go: ‘Yeah, put that flashlight in that situation. It’s accurate.’ My job is to bring the floodlight to it.”

Smith, who grew up in Queens and played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, brings an everyman persona to the group. On and off the set, he is thoughtful, confident and charismatic. When the cameras roll, his best-known feature is jogging to what is referred to as the Big Board on a wall behind the desk, where he breaks down individual plays.

“I want my grandmother to understand it, and I also, and this is funny, I think about Hubie Brown, who is a great technical person — I want him to go, ‘Damn, that was a good point,’” Smith said, referring to the broadcaster. He relishes his role as someone who tries to broaden the game: “I think, at times, that is my role — a decipherer — and to break it down where every person can understand.”

Smith’s fame now dwarfs that of his playing days, a rarity for an athlete. He gets the most attention, he said, at airports, particularly from parents.

“I get it all the time: ‘We don’t watch the game; we watch you guys,’” Smith said.

That’s how much “Inside the N.B.A.” has advanced. It has essentially become, in a way, too big to fail. Executives don’t meddle. There is minimal scripting. It’s Smith, Barkley and O’Neal being themselves at their own pace. It’s virtually unheard-of for a studio show to become more important than the games it is covering. Just this week, TNT won four Sports Emmys because of “Inside the N.B.A.”