Gregory Stephen Smith (born January 8, 1991) is an American former 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 (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

before playing in the

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

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 in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) 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 over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

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 The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

, 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 sponso ...

, 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 National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the Unit ...

affecting players from signing with teams or playing in the summer league, Smith joined Soles de Mexicali of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Grupo Caliente, Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 1 ...

(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 of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. 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. 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 Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

. 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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in exchange for the rights to

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

. 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, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. 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 has played its home games in the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013–14 ...

Minnesota Timberwolves (2016)

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

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. 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: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

. 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 started as one of the founding teams in the ...

as an import for the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup. 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 (2017–2018)

On August 8, 2017, Smith signed with Osaka Evessa of the Japanese B.League. He left the team in January 2018. In 20 games, he averaged 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

Taiwan and Puerto Rico (2018–2019)

In October 2018, Smith signed with

Bank of Taiwan The Bank of Taiwan (BOT; ) is a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It was established in 1897-1899 as a Japanese policy institution or "special bank", similarly as the Nippon Kangyo Bank (est. 1897), Hokkaido Takushoku Bank (est. ...

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

Vaqueros de Bayamón The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

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 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 (2019–2020)

On July 12, 2019, Smith signed with the Mineros de Zacatecas for the 2019–20 LNBP season.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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Playoffs

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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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 State wide receiver in 1988–89 who later signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in 1990.

References

External links

Greg Smith – Get To Know Him
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Greg 1991 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 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 Bank of Taiwan 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 Raptors 905 players Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Soles de Mexicali players Super Basketball League imports Undrafted NBA players Vaqueros de Bayamón basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen