Mikel Smith Gibbs (born September 10, 1963) is a retired American-Spanish 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 and a police officer in Washington, D.C.

College career

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Smith 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 USC–Spartanburg, beginning in 1982.

Professional career

Smith played for twelve years in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, notably for Joventut Badalona and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. He was the Spanish League's Finals MVP in 1992. With Joventut Badalona, he won the EuroLeague championship of the 1993–94 season, by winning the 1994 EuroLeague Final Four.

Spain national team

Smith naturalized during his professional basketball play in Spain, and he played internationally for the senior Spain national team at two

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

tournaments,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Police officer

In January 2024, at age 60, Smith was sworn in as a Washington, D.C. police officer, becoming the oldest rookie in the history of the

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known locally as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and, colloquially, DC Police, is the primary law enforcement agency for the Washington, D.C., District ...

. He is scheduled to graduate from the police academy in April 2024. Smith's father was a police sergeant in New York City.

References

External links

Mike Smith
in USCS Hall of Fame
ACB.com Profile
Living people 1963 births American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Joventut Badalona players Liga ACB players Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officers Naturalised citizens of Spain Power forwards Real Betis Baloncesto players Real Madrid Baloncesto players Spanish men's basketball players Spanish people of African-American descent USC Upstate Spartans men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-basketball-bio-stub