Gregory Stephen Smith (born January 8, 1991) is an American 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 the

Mineros de Zacatecas Club Deportivo Mineros de Zacatecas is a Mexican football club from Zacatecas that compete in the Mexican Liga de Expansión MX. They are currently managed by Omar Alexis Moreno. History In December 2012, Grupo Pachuca purchased the Estudiant ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Despite its short history, the LNBP has established itself as the one of the most important ...

(LNBP). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

before playing in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

and overseas.

High school career

Smith attended Edison High School in Fresno, California from 2005 to 2008. As a junior in 2007–08, he averaged 22 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocks per game. In 2008, he transferred to

Westwind Preparatory Academy Westwind Preparatory Academy was a college preparatory public charter high school in Phoenix, Arizona, operated by Westwind Children's Services, a nonprofit operator of several other Phoenix-area charter schools, Westwind Community Schools. The s ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

where as a senior in 2008–09, he earned All-Arizona State honors and was nominated for the McDonald's All-America Team after he averaged 26 points, 14.4 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and three steals per game.

College career

In his freshman season at

, Smith was named the 2009–10 WAC Freshman of the Year and earned Freshman All-American honors by ''CollegeInsider.com''. In 33 games (all starts), he averaged 11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game. In his sophomore season, Smith earned second-team All-WAC honors. In 31 games, he averaged 11.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game. In March 2011, Smith declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility.

Professional career

Soles de Mexicali (2011)

After going undrafted in the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor ...

, and with the

NBA lockout The NBA lockout may refer to any of the four lockouts in the history of the National Basketball Association: *The 1995 NBA lockout, which lasted for three months before the 1995–96 season. *The 1996 NBA lockout, which lasted for a couple of hour ...

affecting players from signing with teams or playing in the summer league, Smith joined

Soles de Mexicali The Soles de Mexicali (English: ''Mexicali Suns'') is a Mexican professional basketball team based in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, playing in the Northern Division of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). The team was founded ...

of the

(LNBP) in August 2011. In his first professional game, Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in a 107-72 win over the Aguilas Rojas. He appeared in 27 games for Soles before leaving the club in late November to return to the United States in the wake of the NBA lockout concluding.

Houston Rockets / Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2011–2014)

On December 13, 2011, Smith signed with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. However, he was later waived by the Rockets on December 22, 2011 after appearing in two preseason games. On December 28, he was acquired by the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

as an affiliate player. On February 8, 2012, Smith re-signed with the Rockets to a multi-year deal. The next day, he was assigned back down to the Vipers. He was later recalled by the Rockets on February 18, reassigned on March 21 and recalled again on April 8 following the conclusion of the Vipers' season. Having played mostly for the Vipers in his rookie season, Smith was named to the All-NBA D-League first team and the All-Rookie first team. In July 2012, Smith joined the Rockets for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On February 10, 2013, he was reassigned to the Vipers. Four days later, he was recalled by the Rockets. On March 30, 2013, Smith received his first career start. In 30 minutes of action, he recorded 9 points and 8 rebounds in a 98–81 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. He subsequently remained in the starting lineup for the remainder of the regular season. He went on to start the first game of the Rockets' first round playoff match-up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but moved back to a bench role for game two following a large Game 1 loss. In July 2013, Smith re-joined the Rockets 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 ...

. On November 14, 2013, he injured his right knee during a game against the New York Knicks which resulted in Smith being helped from the floor and missing a month of action. On December 15, he returned to the line-up. However, he re-injured his knee a month later and was sidelined indefinitely. On April 10, 2014, he was waived by the Rockets.

Chicago Bulls / Dallas Mavericks (2014–2015)

On April 14, 2014, Smith signed with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

for the rest of the 2013–14 season. However, still suffering from the knee injury he sustained in January, Smith did not appear in a game for the Bulls in 2013–14, missing the team's final two regular season games and all five playoff games against the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

. On July 14, 2014, Smith was traded to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

in exchange for the rights to

Tadija Dragićević Tadija Dragićević ( sr-cyr, Тадија Драгићевић; born 28 January 1986) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player. Standing at , he played the power forward position. Professional career Dragićević grew up with the KK ...

. He became a free agent in the summer of 2015.

Raptors 905 (2016)

On January 5, 2016, Smith was acquired by

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

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 ...

. He made his debut for the team two days later, recording 15 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 block as a starter in a 102–98 loss to the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

Minnesota Timberwolves (2016)

On March 2, 2016, Smith signed a 10-day contract with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. He made his debut for the Timberwolves later that night in a 104–98 loss to the Washington Wizards, recording four points, one rebound and one assist in 10 minutes off the bench. He later signed a second 10-day contract with the Timberwolves on March 12, and a rest-of-season contract on March 23. On June 30, 2016, he was waived by the Timberwolves.

İstanbul BŞB (2016)

On October 7, 2016, Smith signed with İstanbul BŞB of the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. He appeared in seven games for İstanbul before parting ways with the team in late November.

Blackwater Elite (2017)

On March 4, 2017, Smith signed with

Blackwater Elite The Blackwater Bossing is a professional basketball team owned by Ever Bilena, Inc. that is playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) beginning in the 2014–2015 season. The franchise began as one of the founding teams in the PB ...

as an import for the

2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2017 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2017 Oppo-PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2016–17 PBA season. The tournament allows teams to hire foreign ...

. In his PBA debut, Smith scored 37 points and grabbed a career-high 30 rebounds in a 116-118 2OT loss to the Phoenix Fuel Masters. In 10 games, he averaged 27.7 points, 21.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

Osaka Evessa (2017)

On August 8, 2017, Smith signed with

Osaka Evessa is a professional basketball team playing in the B.League, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan. The team is operated by the Human Group Sports Entertainment Company. The team is named after Ebisu. In July 2015 it was announced ...

of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

. He left the team in December 2017. In 20 games, he averaged 9.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Taiwan and Puerto Rico (2018–2019)

Between November and December 2018, Smith played in Taiwan for

Bank of Taiwan The Bank of Taiwan (BOT, , see below) is a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It is owned by the government of Taiwan. History The Bank of Taiwan was established as Taiwan's central bank in 1899, during Japanese rule. Th ...

, where he averaged 14.3 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks, in 15 games. In March 2019, he joined Puerto Rican team

Vaqueros de Bayamón The Vaqueros de Bayamón are a Puerto Rican basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The Vaqueros play their home games at Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum, a venue shared with the Liga de Voleibol Superior F ...

Return to Blackwater Elite (2019)

On July 15, 2019, Smith signed with

, returning to the team for a second stint ahead of the

2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup The 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup, also known as the 2019 Honda–PBA Commissioner's Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second conference of the 2019 PBA season. The tournament allows teams to hire foreign pla ...

playoffs. In Game 2 of the Commissioner's Cup Playoffs, Smith recorded 31 points and 18 rebounds to force a do-or-die Game 3 against Rain or Shine.

Mineros de Zacatecas (2019–present)

On July 12, 2019, Smith signed with the

for the 2019–20 LNBP season.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Playoffs

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Personal life

Smith is the son of Cheryl Duckworth and has an older sister, Ashely and a younger brother, Divante. His uncle, Steve Shelley, was a Fresno Statewide-receiver in 1988–89 who later signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in 1990.

References

External links

Greg Smith – Get To Know Him
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Greg 1991 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Fresno, California Blackwater Bossing players Centers (basketball) Dallas Mavericks players Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball players Houston Rockets players İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor basketball players Mineros de Zacatecas (basketball) players Minnesota Timberwolves players Osaka Evessa players Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Raptors 905 players Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Soles de Mexicali players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Bank of Taiwan basketball players Super Basketball League imports Vaqueros de Bayamón basketball players