Randy Smith (basketball)

Randy Smith

No. 9, 7
Guard / Small forward
Personal information
Date of birth	December 12, 1948(1948-12-12)
Place of birth	Bellport, New York
Nationality	American
Date of death	June 4, 2009(2009-06-04) (aged 60)
Place of death	Norwich, Connecticut
High school	Bellport
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
College	Buffalo State
NBA Draft	1971 / Round: 7 / Pick: 104th overall
Selected by the Buffalo Braves
Pro career	1971–1983
League	NBA
Career history
1971–1979	Buffalo Braves / San Diego Clippers
1979–1981	Cleveland Cavaliers
1981–1982	New York Knicks
1982–1983	San Diego Clippers
1983	Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (1976, 1978) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1978) All-NBA Second Team (1976)
Career NBA statistics
Points	16,262 (16.7 ppg)
Assists	4,487 (4.6 rpg)
Steals	1,403 (1.7 spg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Randolph "Randy" Smith (December 12, 1948 – June 4, 2009) was an American professional basketball player who set the NBA record for consecutive games played. From 1972-1982, Smith played in every regular season game, en route to a then-record of 906 straight games (since broken by A. C. Green). He was born in Bellport, New York.

College

Smith was an outstanding all-around athlete at Buffalo State College, earning All-American honors in three sports: basketball, soccer and track. (At Bellport High School on Long Island, Smith was a standout on the soccer and basketball teams, and set a state high jump record of 6-foot-6.) However, it was on the basketball court that Smith shown brightest, teaming with Durie Burns to lead the Bengals to three straight conference championships, including a trip to the Final Four of the NCAA Division II Tournament in 1970, where Smith earned All-Tournament honors.

By national standards, Buffalo State was a small, obscure school, and it was only because of the local connection that Smith was drafted to the NBA at all. In 1971, he was selected by the Buffalo Braves in the seventh round (104th pick overall) of the NBA Draft.

NBA

Smith surprised everyone in training camp, and he made the final roster cuts. Despite standing only 6-foot-3, he was assigned to play forward. He averaged 13.4 points per game in his rookie season. Smith continued to improve beyond expectation, drawing on his tremendous speed, quickness and leaping ability. His style of play, along with contemporaries like Julius Erving, marked by fast breaks and "above the rim" ball movements influenced the offense style of the NBA in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Playing alongside league scoring champion Bob McAdoo, Smith averaged 21.8 points per game in the 1975-76 season, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team.

The highlight of Smith’s career was the 1978 NBA All-Star Game, where he came off the bench to lead all scorers with 27 points, and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Smith played for seven years for the Braves until the franchise was shifted to the San Diego Clippers in 1978. That first year with the Clippers, Smith had his fourth consecutive season averaging over 20 points per game.

In 1979, Smith was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he was named team captain and played for two years. He spent the 1981 season with the New York Knicks, before moving back to San Diego for another season. Smith retired from professional basketball in 1983 after playing fifteen games for the Atlanta Hawks.

Post-NBA

After retiring as a player, Smith was an N.B.A. league executive whose duties included assisting former players in need, and he was a coach in the Continental Basketball Association before working at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, where he worked in promotion.

On June 4, 2009, Smith died in Norwich, Connecticut of a heart attack following a workout.

See also

• List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

External links

• Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
• The book "Buffalo, Home of the Braves", complete narrative and photo history of the Buffalo Braves