Mike Smith (basketball commentator)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people by this name, see Michael Smith.

Michael John Smith (born May 19, 1965 in Rochester, New York), also known as Mike Smith, is a television and radio commentator for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association.

Smith was a standout basketball player at Brigham Young University. He excelled in both football and volleyball before concentrating on basketball exclusively. Smith served two years (1984-86) as a Mormon missionary before returning to BYU to finish his collegiate basketball career. Flamboyant, some have said particularly for a Mormon, he once as a Cougar switched his jersey number to #11 because according to him it better suited his look.

Smith was a first round draft pick of the Boston Celtics in 1989 (13th overall) as a 25-year-old. He played two seasons with the Celtics before being released in 1991, and spent several years playing overseas in Europe, before returning to the NBA in 1994-95 with the Clippers. (Not to be confused with another American player also named Mike Smith who had a long career in Spain, where he became a citizen and played on the Spanish national taem in the mid-1990s.)

Smith followed his playing career up by becoming a broadcaster, first as a color commentator on BYU's basketball telecasts, and then as a Clippers broadcaster. For the better part of four seasons (1998-2002), Smith worked as the team's radio play-by-play announcer, as well as a fill-in television color commentator alongside legendary Clipper voice Ralph Lawler.

When regular team TV commentator Bill Walton left to work exclusively for ESPN and ABC Sports in 2002, Smith moved over as Lawler's permanent partner on televised and non-televised games. Smith has also served as a coach on the Clippers' Summer League teams on several occasions in recent years. He recently joined Lakers television announcer Joel Meyers in broadcasting several Toshiba Vegas Summer League games for NBA TV.

Smith often jokes with his broadcast partner Ralph Lawler about who his favorite player to watch in the NBA is. His favorite player changes every game, depending on who the Clippers are playing.