One of UNLV's fabled 'Hardway Eight,' the 5-foot-11 point guard helped Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels reach their first Final Four in 1977 — the school honored his jersey in 2022. Denver drafted him in the third round in 1977, launching a seven-team, seven-season pro career. His Jazz chapter was brief — traded to Utah in October 1979, he was signed away by New Jersey within weeks.
Smith settled into Las Vegas life and gave the game back at the grassroots, coaching AAU ball at the Bill and Lilly Heinrich YMCA alongside his old UNLV teammate 'Sudden' Sam Smith. He suffered a stroke in 2019 and was still working through recovery as of 2022.
HOW HE CAME & WENTDenver traded him to Utah in October 1979 and by November he had signed with New Jersey, making his stint one of the briefest on the franchise's all-time roster.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | UTA | 6 | 12.2 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | .333 | — | 1.000 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 1 SEASON | 6 | 12.2 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | .333 | — | 1.000 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗