Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played 13 seasons in the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). Entering the NBA straight out of high school, Smith played nine seasons with 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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

before playing for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

, Houston Rockets and

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

between 2013 and 2016. His final stint in the NBA came in November 2017 with the New Orleans Pelicans. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname "J-Smoove".

High school career

Smith attended John McEachern High in Powder Springs,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. During the summer before his senior year, he played alongside future NBA players Randolph Morris and Dwight Howard on the Atlanta Celtics AAU team. Smith transferred to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year where he was teammates with Rajon Rondo. He averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 blocks, and 3 steals per game on the season, helping lead Oak Hill to 38–0 record. Smith was highly recruited as

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

rated him the third best overall player in the nation and the number one small forward. Smith committed to play for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

but he decided to forgo college and enter the NBA draft.

Professional career

Atlanta Hawks (2004–2013)

Smith was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 17th overall pick in the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

. He won the

NBA Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime inventio ...

his rookie year during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. He became only the fifth player to record three perfect scores in the same contest along with

Jason Richardson Jason Anthoney Richardson (born January 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Richardson was taken by the Golden State Warriors as the fifth overall pic ...

Vince Carter Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. (born January 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who serves as a basketball analyst for ESPN. He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, but occasionally played Powe ...

Spud Webb Anthony Jerome "Spud" Webb (born July 13, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Webb, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), is known for winning a Slam Dunk Contest despite being one of the shortest players ...

, and Michael Jordan. Smith averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.95 blocks per game for the 2004–05 season and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. On March 3, 2007, Smith broke the 500 career block mark, making him the youngest player to do so in NBA history. He ended the 2006–07 season with averages of 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game. On November 17, 2007, Smith scored a career-high 38 points on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks. On April 28, 2008, in Game 4 of their first round series, Smith set playoff career highs of 28 points and 7 blocks in a 97-92 upset victory over the top-seeded Boston Celtics. Despite being the 8-seed, the Hawks would ultimately push the Celtics to seven games before losing the series, and the Celtics would go on to win the

2008 NBA Finals The 2008 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2007–08 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics def ...

. That offseason, on August 8, 2008, Smith signed an offer sheet with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, but the Hawks quickly matched the offer sheet. On February 2, 2010, in a 99–106 loss to the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

, Smith became the youngest player (at 24 years old) to record 1,000 career blocked shots. At season's end, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the first time in his career. On March 31, 2012, Smith scored 34 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in a 95-90 loss to 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 ...

. That postseason, on April 29, Smith led the Hawks to a Game 1 win over the Boston Celtics with 22 points and 18 rebounds. However, the Hawks lost the following three games, eventually losing the series 4-2.

Detroit Pistons (2013–2014)

On July 10, 2013, Smith signed with the

on a reported four-year, $54 million deal. On December 13, 2013, Smith scored 31 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in an 111-109 overtime loss to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. On February 22, 2014, Smith recorded a first half career high of 24 points as he went on to finish with a season high of 32 in a 102–113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He finished his first season in Detroit with averages of 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game On October 29, 2014, during Detroit's season opener, Smith scored what would be a season high 25 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in a 89-79 loss to the Denver Nuggets. On December 22, 2014, Smith was waived by the Pistons. In 28 games during the 2014–15 season, Smith averaged 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, while shooting 39.1% from the field, 24.3% from three-point range and 46.8% from the free throw line. In 105 career games with the Pistons, Smith averaged 15.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

Houston Rockets (2014–2015)

On December 26, 2014, Smith signed with the Houston Rockets and went on to make his debut that night. In just under 32 minutes of action off the bench, he recorded 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the Rockets' 117–111 overtime win over the

. Following that game, Smith was moved into the starting lineup but struggled as the Rockets won only one of their next four games. After a blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Smith was moved back to the bench in order to help him get more comfortable with the team. During the

2015 NBA Playoffs The 2015 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2014–15 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeating the Eastern Conference champion Clev ...

, Smith had multiple impressive games. In Game 2 of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks, Smith tied his playoff career-high of 9 assists, 6 of which were alley-oops to childhood friend and former AAU teammate Dwight Howard, as he helped lead the Rockets to victory. He later scored 23 and 20 points in Games 4 and 5, respectively, as the Rockets won the series in five games. In Game 6 of the conference semi-finals against the

, he scored 19 points, 14 coming in the fourth quarter, as he led a comeback from 19 points down in an elimination game on the road to force, and eventually win, a decisive Game 7. During the playoffs, Smith made a career-high 38% of his three-point attempts.

Los Angeles Clippers (2015–2016)

On July 16, 2015, Smith signed a one-year deal with the

. He made his debut for the Clippers in the team's season opener against the Sacramento Kings on October 28, recording 1 point, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks off the bench in a 111–104 win.

Second stint with Houston (2016)

On January 22, 2016, Smith was traded back to the Houston Rockets, along with the draft rights to Serhiy Lishchuk and cash considerations, in exchange for the draft rights to Maarty Leunen. He made his return game for the Rockets later that night, recording 2 points (on 1-of-10 shooting), 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in a 102–98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Two days later, in his second game back for the Rockets, Smith scored a then season-high 16 points in a 115–104 win over the Dallas Mavericks. He topped that mark on February 2, scoring 19 points as a starter in a 115–102 win over the Miami Heat.

Sichuan Blue Whales (2016–2017)

On November 8, 2016, Smith signed a three-month, $1.5+ million contract with the Sichuan Blue Whales of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. In his second game for Sichuan on November 16, 2016, Smith recorded 41 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks in a loss to Guangdong Southern Tigers. In the game, he shot 7-of-18 from three-point range. He left the team in late January 2017, and in 26 games, he averaged 18.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 blocks in 29.5 minutes per game while making only one start.

New Orleans Pelicans (2017)

On September 28, 2017, Smith joined the Israeli team

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 ...

for their preseason U.S. tour, with the aim being to play in the NBA again. On October 28, 2017, Smith signed with the New Orleans Pelicans to help the team deal with numerous injuries. New Orleans had to use the NBA hardship exemption to sign him as he made their roster stand at 16, one over the allowed limited of 15. He appeared in three games for the Pelicans before being waived on November 10, 2017.

Big3

In March 2019, Smith signed to play in the

Big3 Big3 (stylized BIG3) is a 3-on-3 basketball league founded by hip hop musician and actor Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz. The league consists of 12 teams whose rosters include both former NBA players and international play ...

3-on-3 basketball league.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 74 , , 59 , , 27.7 , , .455 , , .174 , , .688 , , 6.2 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , 1.9 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 73 , , 32.0 , , .425 , , .309 , , .719 , , 6.6 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , 2.6 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 72 , , 36.8 , , .439 , , .250 , , .693 , , 8.6 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , 2.9 , , 16.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 35.5 , , .457 , , .253 , , .710 , , 8.2 , , 3.4 , , 1.5 , , 2.8 , , 17.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 69 , , 35.1 , , .492 , , .299 , , .588 , , 7.2 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , 1.6 , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 35.4 , , .505 , , .000 , , .618 , , 8.7 , , 4.2 , , 1.6 , , 2.1 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , , 77 , , 34.4 , , .477 , , .331 , , .725 , , 8.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , 1.6 , , 16.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 66 , , 66 , , 35.3 , , .458 , , .257 , , .630 , , 9.6 , , 3.9 , , 1.4 , , 1.7 , , 18.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 76 , , 35.3 , , .465 , , .303 , , .517 , , 8.4 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 17.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, 77 , , 76 , , 35.5 , , .419 , , .264 , , .532 , , 6.8 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , 1.4 , , 16.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 28 , , 32.0 , , .391 , , .243 , , .468 , , 7.2 , , 4.7 , , 1.3 , , 1.7 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, 55 , , 7 , , 25.5 , , .438 , , .330 , , .521 , , 6.0 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , 1.2 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 32 , , 1 , , 14.3 , , .383 , , .310 , , .595 , , 3.9 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 1.1 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 6 , , 18.3 , , .343 , , .271 , , .480 , , 2.9 , , 2.1 , , .7 , , .6 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 3 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .250 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 894 , , 772 , , 32.4 , , .452 , , .285 , , .632 , , 7.4 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , 1.9 , , 14.5

Playoffs

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, 7 , , 7 , , 33.9 , , .398 , , .167 , , .841 , , 6.4 , , 2.9 , , 1.7 , , 2.9 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 11 , , 37.3 , , .421 , , .133 , , .732 , , 7.5 , , 2.2 , , 1.1 , , 1.5 , , 17.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 11 , , 35.6 , , .481 , , .333 , , .659 , , 9.0 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , 1.7 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011 , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 12 , , 36.5 , , .404 , , .125 , , .597 , , 8.5 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , 2.1 , , 15.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 5 , , 5 , , 39.2 , , .386 , , .000 , , .762 , , 13.6 , , 4.8 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 6 , , 6 , , 33.2 , , .433 , , .250 , , .528 , , 7.5 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015 , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , 8 , , 23.3 , , .438 , , .380 , , .432 , , 5.6 , , 2.7 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 4 , , 0 , , 9.5 , , .462 , , .500 , , .000 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .3 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 73 , , 60 , , 31.6 , , .426 , , .277 , , .627 , , 7.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , 14.6

NBA records

Youngest player in NBA history to record: * 10 blocked shots in a game, Atlanta Hawks at Dallas Mavericks, () *500 career blocked shots, Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks, () (206 games) *1,000 career blocked shots, Atlanta Hawks at Oklahoma City Thunder, () (423 games) *One of three players in NBA history to notch 30 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and block 3 shots (Atlanta at Phoenix, February 15, 2012) :*The other players are

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. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons ...

(Philadelphia at Cleveland, January 23, 1990) and

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

(Cleveland vs. Charlotte, January 11, 2008).

Personal life

Smith is one of five children born to Pete and Paulette Smith. His father was a professional basketball player during the 1970s and played in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He married Alexandria Lopez on July 31, 2010. The couple have three children (two sons and one daughter).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Josh 1985 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Big3 players Detroit Pistons players Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Clippers players McDonald's High School All-Americans National Basketball Association high school draftees New Orleans Pelicans players Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) alumni Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Sichuan Blue Whales players Small forwards Sportspeople from College Park, Georgia 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people American men's 3x3 basketball players

High school career

Professional career

Atlanta Hawks (2004–2013)

Detroit Pistons (2013–2014)

Houston Rockets (2014–2015)

Los Angeles Clippers (2015–2016)

Second stint with Houston (2016)

Sichuan Blue Whales (2016–2017)

New Orleans Pelicans (2017)

Big3

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

NBA records

Personal life

See also

References

External links