LaBradford Corvey Smith (born April 3, 1969) is an American retired 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.
Career
Smith went to
Bay City High School
Bay City High School is a public high school located on Texas State Highway 35 on the western edge of Bay City, Texas, United States.
School
The school opened a new campus in 2002.
During the 2015–16 school year, there were 1,002 students enro ...
in
Bay City, Texas
Bay City is a city in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,614 at the 2010 census and 18,061 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Matagorda County. The current mayor is Robert Nelson.
Geography
According to the U ...
. He played collegiately at the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
before being selected by the
Washington Bullets
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 Southeast Division. The team plays ...
in the 1st round (19th overall) of the
1991 NBA draft.
Smith played in three NBA seasons from 1991 to 1994. His best year as a pro came during the
1992–93 season as a member of the Bullets, when he appeared in 69 games and averaged 9.3 ppg. During the
1993–94 season, he was waived by the Bullets and spent the rest of the season playing for the
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
. He later on played in the
CBA and overseas. Smith averaged 6.7 ppg in his professional career.
Smith is known for scoring 37 points on
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
in a road game against 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 ...
on March 19, 1993. He shot 15–20 from the floor, and 7–7 from the foul line. However, the Bullets lost 104–99. Jordan claimed Smith had the audacity to say "Nice game, Mike" after the game. The following day the teams played again in Washington D.C. Jordan proceeded to score 36 points in the first half as retribution for the alleged slight from the previous day. It turns out “Nice game, Mike” was never actually said, but was a made up story by Michael Jordan to motivate himself to perform better against Smith.
References
External links
NBA statsat Basketballreference.com
1969 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Poland
American expatriate basketball people in Spain
American men's basketball players
Baloncesto León players
Baltimore Bayrunners players
Basketball players from Texas
Liga ACB players
Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
MKS Znicz Basket Pruszków players
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
People from Bay City, Texas
Quad City Thunder players
Rapid City Thrillers players
Sacramento Kings players
Shooting guards
Śląsk Wrocław basketball players
Washington Bullets draft picks
Washington Bullets players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople
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