Josh Smith

Josh Smith

Smith during his tenure with the Detroit Pistons
No. 5 – Houston Rockets
Position Forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born December 5, 1985
College Park, Georgia
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school McEachern
(Powder Springs, Georgia)
Oak Hill Academy
(Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
NBA draft 2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17th overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Pro career 2004–present
Career history
2004–2013 Atlanta Hawks
2013–2014 Detroit Pistons
2014–present Houston Rockets
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Joshua "Josh" Smith (born December 5, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for his hometown Atlanta Hawks, where he spent the first nine seasons of his career. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname "J-Smoove".[1]

High school career

Smith attended John McEachern High in Powder Springs, Georgia. During the summer before his senior year, he played alongside future NBA players Randolph Morris and Dwight Howard on the Atlanta Celtics AAU team.[2][3] Smith transferred to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year where he was teammates with Rajon Rondo. He averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 blocks, and 3 steals per game on the season, helping lead Oak Hill to 38-0 record.[4] Smith was highly recruited as Rivals.com rated him the third best overall player in the nation and the number one small forward.[5] Smith committed to play for Indiana University but he decided to forgo college and enter the NBA draft.[6]

NBA career

Atlanta Hawks

Smith was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 17th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft.

He won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest his rookie year during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. He became only the fifth player to record three perfect scores in the same contest along with Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, Spud Webb, and Michael Jordan. Smith averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.95 blocks per game for the 2004–05 season and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

On March 3, 2007, Smith broke the 500 career block mark, making him the youngest player to do so in NBA history.[7] He ended the 2006–07 season with averages of 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game. On November 17, 2007, Smith scored a career-high 38 points on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks.[8]

On August 8, 2008, Smith signed an offer sheet to play with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Hawks quickly matched the offer sheet.[9][10][11]

On February 2, 2010, in a 99–106 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Smith became the youngest player (at 24 years old) to record 1,000 career blocked shots.[12] At season's end, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the first time in his career.

Detroit Pistons

On July 10, 2013, Smith signed with the Detroit Pistons[13] on a reported four-year, $54 million deal.[14]

On February 22, 2014, Smith recorded a first half career high of 24 points as he went on to finish with a season high of 32 in a 102–113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[15] He finished his first season in Detroit with averages of 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game

On December 22, 2014, Smith was waived by the Pistons. In 28 games during the 2014–15 season, Smith averaged 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, while shooting 39.1% from the field, 24.3% from three point range and 46.8% from the free throw line. In 105 career games with the Pistons, Smith averaged 15.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.[16]

Houston Rockets

On December 26, 2014, Smith signed with the Houston Rockets[17] and went on to make his debut that night. In just under 32 minutes of action off the bench, he recorded 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the Rockets' 117-111 overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies.[18]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004–05 Atlanta 74 59 27.7 .455 .174 .688 6.2 1.7 .8 1.9 9.7
2005–06 Atlanta 80 73 32.0 .425 .309 .719 6.6 2.4 .8 2.6 11.3
2006–07 Atlanta 72 72 36.8 .439 .250 .693 8.6 3.3 1.4 2.9 16.4
2007–08 Atlanta 81 81 35.5 .457 .253 .710 8.2 3.4 1.5 2.8 17.2
2008–09 Atlanta 69 69 35.1 .492 .299 .588 7.2 2.4 1.4 1.6 15.6
2009–10 Atlanta 81 81 35.4 .505 .000 .618 8.7 4.2 1.6 2.1 15.7
2010–11 Atlanta 77 77 34.4 .477 .331 .725 8.5 3.3 1.3 1.6 16.5
2011–12 Atlanta 66 66 35.3 .458 .257 .630 9.6 3.9 1.4 1.7 18.8
2012–13 Atlanta 76 76 35.3 .465 .303 .517 8.4 4.2 1.2 1.8 17.5
2013–14 Detroit 77 76 35.5 .419 .264 .532 6.8 3.3 1.4 1.4 16.4
2014–15 Detroit 28 28 32.0 .391 .243 .468 7.2 4.7 1.3 1.7 13.1
2014–15 Houston 55 7 25.5 .438 .330 .521 6.0 2.6 .9 1.2 12.0
Career 836 765 33.6 .455 .285 .633 7.7 3.2 1.3 2.0 15.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008 Atlanta 7 7 33.9 .398 .167 .841 6.4 2.9 1.7 2.9 15.7
2009 Atlanta 11 11 37.3 .421 .133 .732 7.5 2.2 1.1 1.5 17.1
2010 Atlanta 11 11 35.6 .481 .333 .659 9.0 2.6 1.2 1.7 14.1
2011 Atlanta 12 12 36.5 .404 .125 .597 8.5 2.9 1.1 2.1 15.1
2012 Atlanta 5 5 39.2 .386 .000 .762 13.6 4.8 .6 1.0 16.8
2013 Atlanta 6 6 33.2 .433 .250 .528 7.5 3.5 1.8 .5 17.0
Career 52 52 36.0 .422 .172 .682 8.5 2.9 1.2 1.7 15.8

NBA records

Youngest player in NBA history to record:

Personal life

Smith is one of five children born to Pete and Paulette Smith. His siblings are Walter, Phebe, Kasola and Shanti. He married Alexandria Lopez on July 31, 2010. The couple have three children (two sons and one daughter).[19][20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Atlanta Hawks’ Josh Smith Has a New Nickname… [VIDEO]". straightfromthea.com. October 26, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Josh Smith/Randolph Morris Feature Story". NBA.com. November 4, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  3. ↑ Interview: Josh Smith
  4. ↑ Oak Hill's Josh Smith jilts IU for NBA
  5. ↑ Joshua Smith – Yahoo! Sports
  6. ↑ Top recruit all but says goodbye to IU basketball
  7. ↑ "Marbury, Francis take control as Knicks knock down Hawks". ESPN.com. March 3, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Bogut, Redd score 21 each; Milwaukee extends Atlanta's road woes". ESPN.com. November 17, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Josh Smith Signed to an Offer Sheet by the Memphis Grizzlies". bleacherreport.com. August 8, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Hawks match Grizzlies' $58M offer sheet, retain Smith". ESPN.com. August 11, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  11. ↑ Kent, Austin (August 17, 2008). "Never Send a Human to do a Machine's Job". TheGoodPoint.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Josh Smith - Youngest Player to 1000 Blocks". NBA.com. February 2, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Detroit Pistons Sign Free Agent Forward Josh Smith". NBA.com. July 10, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  14. ↑ Josh Smith inks $54M, 4-year deal
  15. ↑ Notebook: Mavericks 113, Pistons 102
  16. ↑ "Pistons waive forward Josh Smith". NBA.com. December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Free Agent Josh Smith Joins Houston Rockets". NBA.com. December 26, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  18. ↑ Rockets top Grizzlies in overtime in Smith's debut
  19. ↑ NBA’s Players And Their Wives
  20. ↑ Josh Smith Stats, Video, Bio, Profile

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Josh Smith.