Leon Smith (basketball)

American basketball player (born 1980)

Leon SmithPersonal information

Born|  (1980-11-02) November 2, 1980 (age 44)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height| 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight| 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school| Martin Luther King
(Chicago, Illinois)
NBA draft| 1999: 1st round, 29th overall pick
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career| 2000–2007
Position| Center
Number| 41, 35
Career history
2000–2001| St. Louis Swarm
2001–2002| Sioux Falls Skyforce
2002| Gary Steelheads
2002| Atlanta Hawks
2002–2003| Gary Steelheads
2003| Caguas Creoles
2003| Texas Rim Rockers
2003–2004| Gary Steelheads
2004| Great Lakes Storm
2004| Seattle SuperSonics
2007| Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca
Career highlights and awards

* All-CBA Second Team (2002)
* CBA All-Defensive Team (2004)
* CBA rebounding leader (2004)
* CBA blocks leader (2004)
* Third-team Parade All-American (1999)

Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Leon Smith (born November 2, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Continental Basketball Association, the USBL and the IBL, and abroad in Puerto Rico and Argentina.

Smith was raised in a foster home, called Lydia Children's Home, as a ward of the state of Illinois due to neglect from his parents when he was five years old.[1]

Smith was selected out of Chicago's Martin Luther King High School (where he averaged 25.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game in his senior year)[2] by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round (29th overall) of the 1999 NBA draft, and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the draft rights to Gordan Giriček and a second-round pick in the 2000 NBA draft. However, in subsequent months he suffered numerous psychological concerns, and was released in February 2000 without ever playing a game for the Mavericks.[3] A month previous, Smith was released from a psychiatric ward to where he was committed for several weeks, after an incident in which he threw a rock through a car window and swallowed approximately 250 aspirin tablets and would tell police officers, "I am an Indian fighting Columbus".[4]

Smith played for the Gary Steelheads and Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 2001–02 season and earned CBA All-League Second Team honors.[5] In January 2002, Smith was signed by the Atlanta Hawks for whom he played 14 games. His short stint with the Hawks involved being waived, signed back a second time, and eventually being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, for whom he never played.[6]

Smith played for the Great Lakes Storm of the CBA during the 2003–04 season and was selected to the CBA All-Defensive Team.[5] Late in the 2003–04 NBA season, the Seattle SuperSonics signed Smith to a contract,[7] but he only played one game for them.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Hard times for Leon Smith". Archived from the original on May 3, 2001.
2. ^ "Harvey named national player of the year". USA Today. May 21, 1999. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
3. ^ "Mavericks release rookie Leon Smith". Archived from the original on May 22, 2005.
4. ^ "Suspended Mavs rookie checks out of psychiatric ward". Archived from the original on May 23, 2001.
5. ^ a b "Leon Smith minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
6. ^ "Hawks Transactions Archive". nba.com.
7. ^ "All News". Oklahoma City Thunder. Archived from the original on February 13, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2006.

## External links

[edit]

* NBA.com profile
* Career transactions @ hoopshype.com

* v
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1999 NBA draft

First round|

* Elton Brand
* Steve Francis
* Baron Davis
* Lamar Odom
* Jonathan Bender
* Wally Szczerbiak
* Richard Hamilton
* Andre Miller
* Shawn Marion
* Jason Terry
* Trajan Langdon
* Aleksandar Radojević
* Corey Maggette
* William Avery
* Frédéric Weis
* Ron Artest
* Cal Bowdler
* James Posey
* Quincy Lewis
* Dion Glover
* Jeff Foster
* Kenny Thomas
* Devean George
* Andrei Kirilenko
* Tim James
* Vonteego Cummings
* Jumaine Jones
* Scott Padgett
* Leon Smith

Second round|

* John Celestand
* Rico Hill
* Michael Ruffin
* Chris Herren
* Evan Eschmeyer
* Calvin Booth
* Wang Zhizhi
* Obinna Ekezie
* Laron Profit
* A. J. Bramlett
* Gordan Giriček
* Francisco Elson
* Louis Bullock
* Lee Nailon
* Tyrone Washington
* Ryan Robertson
* J. R. Koch
* Todd MacCulloch
* Galen Young
* Lari Ketner
* Venson Hamilton
* Antwain Smith
* Roberto Bergersen
* Rodney Buford
* Melvin Levett
* Kris Clack
* Tim Young
* Manu Ginóbili
* Eddie Lucas

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