Chris Smith (born October 13, 1987) is an American-Israeli professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

of the

Israeli National League Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

. He played college basketball for

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

High school career

Smith averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.8 steals in his final prep season at St. Benedict's Prep. Chris was honored on the first team All-Freelance League team as a senior. Before playing at St. Benedict's, he played at Lakewood High School for three years, scoring over 1,300 career points. At Lakewood High School, he also played wide receiver and kicker for the football team.

College career

As a freshman and sophomore, Chris Smith played for the

Manhattan Jaspers The Manhattan Jaspers are composed of 19 teams representing Manhattan College in intercollegiate athletics. The Jaspers compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Manhattan College fields 19 Divisio ...

. He wore the number 2. During his freshman year (2007–2008), Smith averaged 9.9

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

, 1

assists per game In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by field goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due ...

, and shot 40.4 percent from the field. Smith also shot 28.1 percent from three. The Jaspers went 12–19, that year. During his sophomore year (2008–2009), Smith averaged 13.4 ppg, 1.2 apg, shot 36.2% from the field, and 28.8% from three-point range. The Jaspers finished off the season over .500 at a 16–14 record. Smith transferred to Louisville to complete his college career. After transferring from Manhattan, Smith played for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

during his junior and senior year in college. Smith wore number 5. During his junior year (2010–2011), Smith averaged 9.4 ppg, 2.5 apg, shot 45.8% from the field, and 40.4% from three-point range. This was an improvement in 3-point shooting from his lower class years at Manhattan. The Cardinals finished the season with a 25–10 record. As a senior, Smith averaged 9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Asso ...

, Smith joined the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

' Summer League team. He signed with the Knicks on August 1, 2012, but was waived on October 26. He did not appear in any preseason games after undergoing left patella tendon surgery. Smith re-joined the Knicks for the

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

and was later signed by the Knicks on September 11, 2013. On November 18, he was assigned to the Erie BayHawks of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. On December 17, he was recalled by New York. After appearing in two games as a Knick, he was waived by the team on December 31. After being waived by the Knicks, he was acquired by the BayHawks on January 7. He was later released by the BayHawks on March 4. On February 4, 2015, Smith signed with

KB Peja Klubi i Basketbollit Peja (English: ''Basketball Club Peja'') is a Kosovar professional basketball club based in Pejë. The club currently plays in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. KB Peja has won 6 National Championships, 4 Kosovo Basketball ...

of the

Kosovo Basketball Superleague The Kosovo Basketball Superleague (Albanian: Superliga e Kosovës në Basketboll) and known as the ArtMotion Superliga due to sponsorship reasons is the top men's professional basketball league in Kosovo. Basketball Superleague was founded in 1991 ...

. The next month, he left Peja. In February 2016, Smith signed with the

Saint John Mill Rats The Saint John Riptide were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saint John, New Brunswick, that had home games at Harbour Station. They were a member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) in the Atlantic Division. ...

of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

for the rest of the 2015–16 season. On October 6, 2016, Smith signed with Israeli club

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...

of the

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

. However, he was waived on October 13, after appearing in only one game. On December 15, 2017, Smith signed a three-year deal with Israeli club

Ironi Nahariya Ironi Nahariya Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל עירוני נהריה; ) known for sponsorship reasons as Ironi Rain Nahariya () is a professional basketball club based in city of Nahariya in northern Israel. The team plays in t ...

. On January 18, 2018, Smith parted ways with Nahariya after appearing in two Israeli League games. One day later, he signed with Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin of the

for the rest of the season. On February 5, 2018, Smith parted ways with Kiryat Motzkin after appearing in one game. On December 23, 2019, Smith signed with

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

for the rest of the season.

Personal life

Smith is son of Ida and Earl Smith, and has three brothers and two sisters. He is the younger brother of former NBA player

J. R. Smith Earl Joseph "J. R." Smith III (born September 9, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Smith played high school basketball at New Jers ...

. In 2017, Smith converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and became an Israeli citizen.

References

External links

Eurobasket.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris 1987 births Living people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players African-American Jews American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Kosovo American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey Converts to Judaism Erie BayHawks (2008–2017) players Hapoel Galil Elyon players Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. players Ironi Nahariya players Lakewood High School (New Jersey) alumni Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin basketball players Manhattan Jaspers basketball players New York Knicks players People from Millstone Township, New Jersey Point guards Saint John Mill Rats players St. Benedict's Preparatory School alumni Sportspeople from Lakewood Township, New Jersey Undrafted National Basketball Association players