Steve Smith

Steven Delano Smith (born March 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who is a basketball analyst for Turner Sports.

Smith led the Spartans to a Big Ten Championship and Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1990 and hit a game-winning, last-second three-pointer to beat Wisconsin–Green Bay in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament.

Smith was selected fifth overall in the 1991 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, a young expansion team which featured other young players such as Glen Rice, Rony Seikaly and Brian Shaw.

Smith played in 61 games in his rookie season, starting in 59 with averages of 12 points a game and 4.6 assists.

The young team made the playoffs to face the top seeded defending champion Chicago Bulls, who swept the Heat in 3 games in the first round.

Smith averaged 16 points a game for the series.

Injuries limited Smith to 48 games in the 1992–93 season, but he increased his scoring average to 16 points a game.

Miami did not make the playoffs that year.

The 1993–94 season would prove to be Smith's best in Miami, as he averaged 17.3 points a game with 5.1 assists as the Heat won 42 games and entered the first round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.

The series went to 5 games, as Miami won its first playoff games in franchise history.

Smith led the team in scoring during the series with 19.2 points and shot 40 percent from beyond the three-point line.

He joined the USA men's national basketball team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship winning the gold medal.

Smith would play just two games to start the 1994–95 season before being traded in a fire sale along with Grant Long to Atlanta for Kevin Willis, a deal that was universally regarded as a one-sided heist by Atlanta.

Smith started in 59 of 78 games for Atlanta and averaged 16 points during the regular season and 19 points in the playoffs, as the Hawks lost in a first round sweep to the Indiana Pacers.

He would go on to average a then career-high 18.1 points a game in 80 starts in the 1995–96 season, forming a formidable backcourt one-two punch with Mookie Blaylock.

The team under head coach Lenny Wilkens would win 46 games and defeat the Indiana Pacers in the first round in 5 games.

The next round, while facing the Orlando Magic, Smith led all scorers in a Game 4 win with 35 points, before Atlanta lost the series 4 games to 1.

Smith averaged 21.7 points in 10 playoff games that postseason.

The following season would feature another career high scoring average (20.1) for Smith, as he continued to serve as the Hawks' main option on offense.

On March 14, 1997, Smith made a career high 9 three-pointers en route to a 36 point total, during a loss to the Seattle SuperSonics.

On April 9, Smith recorded a career high 5 steals in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Atlanta also featured players such as solid power-forward Christian Laettner and defensive star Dikembe Mutombo, and would go on to win 56 games before meeting and defeating the Detroit Pistons in a 5-game first round series.

Smith played well against Detroit and held his own against Michael Jordan and the defending champion Chicago Bulls, who defeated the Hawks in 5 games in the semifinals.

After a collegiate career with Michigan State, he played with several teams in his 14-season National Basketball Association career, including the Miami Heat, the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, but is perhaps best known for his five-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks which included an All-Star Game appearance in 1998.

The following season would be similar to Smith as he once again averaged 20.1 points a game, but this time managed to be named an NBA All-Star as he scored 14 points in 16 minutes of action in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game.

The Hawks would disappoint in the playoffs yet again however, this time losing to the Charlotte Hornets 3 games to 1 in the conference semifinals despite a 24.8 ppg scoring average by Smith for the series.

The 1998–99 season would be limited to 50 games as a result of a league wide lockout, and in 36 games Smith averaged 18.7 points a game and led the Hawks to another 5 game first round victory over Detroit.

The Hawks had no answer, however, for the New York Knicks, and again the Hawks were eliminated in the semifinals.

He won another gold medal at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas and an Olympic gold medal with the USA men's national basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics with eleven other NBA All-Stars.

Smith finished his four-year career as the all-time leading scorer in Michigan State history, with 2,263 points.

He ranks fourth on the school's all-time assists list (with 453) and fifth in rebounds (with 704).

For his college career Smith averaged 18.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest in 122 games.

He was named to the NABC All-American First Team as a senior.

Smith averaged 17.3 points a game in the 1999 playoffs.

In the offseason, the Hawks traded Smith in a 4 player trade to the Portland Trail Blazers alongside Ed Gray in exchange for Jim Jackson and Isaiah Rider.

Portland was a loaded team that had reached the Western Conference Finals in the 1999 playoffs and featured star forward Rasheed Wallace as well as the newly acquired Scottie Pippen.

Smith would no longer be required to carry the offensive load, and averaged 14.9 points a game in 81 starts as the Trail Blazers secured the second best record in the Western Conference.

He was inducted into Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

He won a championship with the Spurs in 2003.

Smith was widely regarded as an excellent three-point shooter, and is one of three players to make seven 3-pointers in a quarter.