Leon Smith

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For other people named Leon Smith, see Leon Smith (disambiguation).

Leon Smith
Personal information
Power forward
Born	(1980-11-02) November 2, 1980 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (208 cm)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school	Martin Luther King (Chicago, Illinois)
NBA draft	1999 / Round: 1 / Pick: 29th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Career history
St. Louis Swarm (2000–2001) Sioux Falls Skyforce (2001–2002) Gary Steelheads (2002) Atlanta Hawks (2002) Gary Steelheads (2002–2003) Caguas Creoles (2003) Texas Rim Rockers (2003) Gary Steelheads (2003–2004) Great Lakes Storm (2004) Seattle SuperSonics (2004) Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca (2007)

Leon Smith (born November 2, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the NBA, the CBA, the USBL and the IBL, and abroad in Puerto Rico and Argentina.

Smith was raised in a foster home, called Lydia Children's Home, as a ward of the state of Illinois due to neglect from his parents when he was five years old.^[1]

Smith was selected out of Chicago's Martin Luther King High School by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round (29th overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the draft rights to Gordan Giriček and a second-round pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. However, in subsequent months he suffered numerous psychological problems, and was released in February 2000 without ever playing a game for the Mavericks.^[2] A month previous, Smith was released from a psychiatric ward to where he was committed for several weeks, after an incident in which he threw a rock through a car window and swallowed approximately 250 aspirin tablets.^[3]

In January 2002, Smith was signed by the Atlanta Hawks for whom he played 14 games. His short stint with the Hawks involved being waived, signed back a second time, and eventually being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, for whom he never played.^[4]

Late in the 2003–04 NBA season, the Seattle SuperSonics signed Smith to a contract,^[5] but he only played one game for them.

Notes

External links

v t e 1999 NBA Draft

First round	Elton Brand Steve Francis Baron Davis Lamar Odom Jonathan Bender Wally Szczerbiak Richard Hamilton Andre Miller Shawn Marion Jason Terry Trajan Langdon Aleksandar Radojević Corey Maggette William Avery Frédéric Weis Ron Artest Cal Bowdler James Posey Quincy Lewis Dion Glover Jeff Foster Kenny Thomas Devean George Andrei Kirilenko Tim James Vonteego Cummings Jumaine Jones Scott Padgett Leon Smith

Second round	John Celestand Rico Hill Michael Ruffin Chris Herren Evan Eschmeyer Calvin Booth Wang Zhizhi Obinna Ekezie Laron Profit A. J. Bramlett Gordan Giriček Francisco Elson Louis Bullock Lee Nailon Tyrone Washington Ryan Robertson J. R. Koch Todd MacCulloch Galen Young Lari Ketner Venson Hamilton Antwain Smith Roberto Bergersen Rodney Buford Melvin Levett Kris Clack Tim Young Manu Ginóbili Eddie Lucas

Persondata
Name	Smith, Leon
Alternative names
Short description	American basketball player
Date of birth	November 2, 1980
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Date of death
Place of death

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