Mike Smith (basketball, born 1963)
Mikel Smith Gibbs (born September 10, 1963) is a retired American-Spanish professional basketball player and a police officer in Washington, D.C.
College career
[edit]Born in New York City, Smith played college basketball for USC–Spartanburg, beginning in 1982.
Professional career
[edit]Smith played for twelve years in Spain, notably for Joventut Badalona and Real Madrid. 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
[edit]Smith naturalized during his professional basketball play in Spain, and he played internationally for the senior Spain national team at two EuroBasket tournaments, 1995 and 1997.
Police officer
[edit]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. He is scheduled to graduate from the police academy in April 2024. Smith's father was a police sergeant in New York City.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ Segraves, Mark (January 27, 2024). "'Age has nothing to do with it': Former professional basketball player to become DC's oldest police rookie". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Mike Smith in USCS Hall of Fame
- ACB.com Profile (in Spanish)
- 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
- Spanish basketball biography stubs