Larry Smith (born January 18, 1958) 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. A 6'8" forward/center from

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. ...

, Smith spent 13 seasons (1980–1993) in the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA), playing for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

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) ...

, and

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. Smith, nicknamed "Mr. Mean", received

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

Honors in 1981, and would become one of the best rebounders of the 1980s. He had career averages of 9.2 rebounds and 25.9 minutes per game. Smith was affectionally nicknamed and known as "Mr. Mean" throughout his career, especially during his time with the Warriors, due to the stark contrast between him being nice and soft-spoken off the court but always with a serious demeanor and angry scowl on the court while grabbing a rebound. Smith's popularity in Golden State and Houston led to local fan clubs who would attend games wearing hard hats holding up a sign saying "Larry's Local 13". At the end of his career, Smith earned praise from the Houston Rockets coaching staff and fanbase for adequately covering for an injured

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. He worked as an assistant coach for

Rudy Tomjanovich Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. (born November 24, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He won two NBA Championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) and coached Team USA to the gold medal in men's basketball at the ...

with the Rockets from 1993 until 2002, helping them capture their back-to-back NBA titles in 1993-94 and 1994-95. After ten years with the Rockets, Smith was hired as the assistant coach for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in 2003. In 2004, he was hired by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

to be the assistant coach for Tomjanovich. However, Tomjanovich resigned after 41 games into the 2004–05 season. Smith remained as an assistant coach for interim head coach Frank Hamblen until the end of the season. After serving as an assistant coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, as the head coach of the Anaheim Arsenal, and as an assistant coach for the

Austin Toros Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

in the NBA D-League, Smith was hired to be an assistant coach for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA) for the 2008 season.Press release on joining the Los Angeles Sparks
/ref> On May 8, 2008, officials made the announcement during a news conference in Vicksburg, Mississippi that Smith has been named as the head basketball coach for

. In 2011, Smith was moved from this position to become director of athletic development for the school. He holds the NBA joint record for the most offensive rebounds in a quarter with 11, versus the Denver Nuggets on March 23 1986, tied with

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 82 , , – , , 31.4 , , .512 , , – , , .588 , , 12.1 , , 1.1 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 74 , , 55 , , 29.9 , , .534 , , .000 , , .553 , , 11.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 49 , , 41 , , 29.2 , , .588 , , – , , .535 , , 9.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 75 , , 63 , , 29.2 , , .560 , , – , , .560 , , 9.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 80 , , 78 , , 31.2 , , .530 , , – , , .605 , , 10.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 77 , , 74 , , 31.7 , , .536 , , .000 , , .493 , , 11.1 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 80 , , 78 , , 29.7 , , .546 , , .000 , , .574 , , 11.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 20 , , 10 , , 25.0 , , .472 , , .000 , , .407 , , 9.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 80 , , 78 , , 23.7 , , .552 , , – , , .310 , , 8.2 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 74 , , 0 , , 17.6 , , .474 , , .000 , , .364 , , 6.1 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 28 , , 23.7 , , .487 , , – , , .240 , , 8.8 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 45 , , 7 , , 17.8 , , .543 , , .000 , , .364 , , 5.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 66 , , 13 , , 12.6 , , .437 , , – , , .409 , , 4.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 883 , , 525 , , 25.9 , , .531 , , .000 , , .531 , , 9.2 , , 1.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 6.7

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 10, , 10, , 32.9, , .531, , –, , .708, , style="background:#cfecec;", 13.7*, , 1.7, , 1.2, , 0.6, , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 8, , 8, , 18.5, , .250, , –, , –, , 5.0, , 2.0, , 0.8, , 1.4, , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 0, , 18.3, , .750, , –, , –, , 3.3, , 1.3, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3, , 0, , 19.0, , .250, , .000, , .000, , 4.3, , 1.3, , 0.3, , 0.3, , 0.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 6, , 0, , 8.3, , .667, , –, , .750, , 2.7, , 0.2, , 0.7, , 0.3, , 1.2

References

External links

Coach profile
at NBA.com

at Basketball-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Larry 1958 births Living people African-American basketball coaches Alcorn State Braves basketball coaches Alcorn State Braves basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Basketball coaches from Mississippi Basketball players from Mississippi Centers (basketball) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players Houston Rockets assistant coaches Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches People from Rolling Fork, Mississippi Power forwards San Antonio Spurs players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links