Sean Christian Smith (born December 24, 1999) 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 (appro ...

player for Ironi Kiryat Ata of the Ligat Winner Sal. 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 the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior in 2020, when he was also named the conference's most improved player.

Undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

out of college, Smith signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

to play with 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

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 United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) and their development team, the

Motor City Cruise The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play as the Lon ...

Early life and high school career

Smith's father, Sean, was his coach in middle school. During his first two years at

Fort Worth Country Day School Fort Worth Country Day (FWCD) is a JK-12 private, independent, coeducational, nondenominational college-preparatory school located on approximately 100 acres in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is accredited by the Independent Schools Associ ...

, Smith was the quarterback on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team in addition to playing basketball. He grew between his freshman and sophomore years in high school. He transferred to

Huntington Prep School Huntington Prep or Huntington Expression Prep is a basketball-focused college preparatory school located in Huntington, West Virginia. Huntington Prep was originally unrelated to the public Huntington High School located in the same city, though ...

. In January 2017, Smith announced he would reclassify from the class of 2018 to the class of 2017. A three-star recruit, Smith signed with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

after considering offers from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

College career

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' described Smith as "a 6-foot-9, 215-pound string bean" that "played his first slate of nonconference games for the Bruins at 17, sprinkling enticing potential atop a mound of mistakes." He averaged 3.9

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and 1.9

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game as a freshman but struggled with turnovers. In his sophomore season, Smith scored in double figures in his first five games but only reached double figures scoring in five of the remaining games. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a part-time starter, making 28.1 percent of his

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

s. During his junior year in 2019–20, Smith averaged 11.1 points per game during nonconference play as the Bruins went 7–6. He improved his performance during the season, posting his first double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds on January 2, in a win against

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

followed by 22 points in a loss to

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. Smith scored a career-high 30 points on January 31, in a 72–68 win against

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Smith led UCLA in scoring with 13.1 points per game as well as averaging 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He helped the Bruins finish second in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

and was named first-team All-Pac-12 as well as the conference's most improved player. Following the season, Smith declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

, but he later withdrew, returning to UCLA for his senior season. Entering the 2020–21 season, Smith was named to the preseason watch lists for the

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The Wooden Award program consists of the men's and women's player of the year awards, the Legends of Coaching Award, and rec ...

and

Julius Erving Award The Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate small forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarde ...

. On December 31, 2020, he suffered a knee injury in the first half against

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

but returned in the second half. However, he was later diagnosed with a

torn anterior cruciate ligament An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

(ACL) and ruled out for the season. Smith had been inconsistent on offense, but he was having his best game of the season against the Utes, making all six of his first half shots and finishing the game with 16 points in 22 minutes. He ended the season with averages of 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, which were both second on the team at the time. After undergoing knee surgery, Smith spent a month away from the team before returning to rehabilitate with UCLA staff and supporting the team from the sidelines. He was not expected to be able to resume basketball activities until the fall. After the season, Smith declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

while retaining the option to return to UCLA. An extra year of eligibility was granted to athletes because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but he later confirmed that he was remaining in the draft.

Professional career

After going undrafted, Smith was named to the

roster for the

2021 NBA Summer League The 2021 NBA Summer League was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The summer league c ...

, but he was not expected to play because of his injury. On August 17, 2021, he signed a

to play with the Pistons and the

of the

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

. On March 8, 2022, Smith injured his left knee against the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since 2024, the team plays its home games at Public Auditorium in downtown Cleveland, thoug ...

. He underwent an

ACL reconstruction Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...

procedure on March 29 and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. On April 3, he was waived by the Pistons without playing an NBA game. In 18 games with Motor City, he averaged 8.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists. On January 1, 2023, Smith was acquired via waivers by the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American minor-league professional basketball team. They are a member of the NBA G League, based in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. Before the 2016–17 ...

, but was waived on November 9. On November 24, he joined the

Grand Rapids Gold The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

, but was waived on December 9 only to rejoin them six days later. On January 2, 2024, he was waived by the Gold, but rejoined them on January 8, lasting five days until being waived. Three days later, Smith joined the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

. On May 6, 2024, Smith signed with the

Montreal Alliance The Montreal Alliance () are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded in 2021. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Verdun Auditorium. The Montreal A ...

of the

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

. On October 14, 2024, Smith signed with Ironi Kiryat Ata of the Ligat Winner Sal.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 0 , , 13.1 , , .439 , , .179 , , .585 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 12 , , 19.6 , , .405 , , .281 , , .719 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 26 , , 28.3 , , .458 , , .341 , , .840 , , 5.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

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

, 8 , , 8 , , 28.0 , , .438 , , .500 , , .794 , , 6.4 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .5 , , 12.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 105 , , 46 , , 20.8 , , .438 , , .316 , , .757 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .3 , , 8.0 Source:

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris 1999 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Israel American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Grand Rapids Gold players Iowa Wolves players Ironi Kiryat Ata players Montreal Alliance players Motor City Cruise players Salt Lake City Stars players Small forwards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players