Josh Smith

Lore & Background

Smith attended John McEachern High in Powder Springs, Georgia. During the summer before his senior year, he played alongside future NBA players Randolph Morris and Dwight Howard on the Atlanta Celtics AAU team. Smith transferred to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year where he was teammates with Rajon Rondo. He averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 blocks, and 3 steals per game on the season, helping lead Oak Hill to 38–0 record. Smith was highly recruited as Rivals.com rated him the third best overall player in the nation and the number one small forward. Smith committed to play for Indiana University but he decided to forgo college and enter the NBA draft.

Reader's Guide

Smith was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 17th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. He won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest his rookie year during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. He became only the fifth player to record three perfect scores in the same contest along with Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, Spud Webb, and Michael Jordan. Smith averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.95 blocks per game for the 2004–05 season and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

On March 3, 2007, Smith broke the 500 career block mark, making him the youngest player to do so in NBA history. He ended the 2006–07 season with averages of 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game. On November 17, 2007, Smith scored a career-high 38 points on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks. On April 28, 2008, in Game 4 of their first round series, Smith set playoff career highs of 28 points and 7 blocks in a 97–92 upset victory over the top-seeded Boston Celtics.

Despite being the 8-seed, the Hawks would ultimately push the Celtics to seven games before losing the series, and the Celtics would go on to win the 2008 NBA Finals. That offseason, on August 8, 2008, Smith signed a five-year, $58 million offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Hawks quickly matched. On February 2, 2010, in a 99–106 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Smith became the youngest player (at 24 years old) to record 1,000 career blocked shots.

At season's end, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the first time in his career. On March 31, 2012, Smith scored 34 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in a 95–90 loss to the Chicago Bulls. That postseason, on April 29, Smith led the Hawks to a Game 1 win over the Boston Celtics with 22 points and 18 rebounds. However, the Hawks lost the following three games, eventually losing the series 4–2.

On July 10, 2013, Smith signed with the Detroit Pistons on a reported four-year, $54 million deal. On December 13, 2013, Smith scored 31 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in an 111–109 overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. On February 22, 2014, Smith recorded a first half career high of 24 points as he went on to finish with a season high of 32 in a 102–113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He finished his first season in Detroit with averages of 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game.