Steve Smith

Steve Smith was a shooting guard who helped the USA win basketball gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He also won international gold medals at the 1994 World Championships, the 1999 America’s Cup, and the 1989 World University Games.

Smith attended Michigan State University, graduating in 1991, after which he was the fifth overall pick of the first round by the Miami Heat in the 1991 NBA Draft. Smith played for 14 years in the NBA, with the Heat from 1991-94 and finishing his career there in 2005. He played for the Atlanta Hawks from 1994-99, the Portland Trail Blazers from 1999-2001, the San Antonio Spurs from 2001-03 (winning an NBA title with them in 2003), the New Orleans Hornets in 2003-04, and the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004-05.

Smith was an NBA All-Star in 1998 and made the NBA All-Rookie team in 1992. He was given the league’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1998 and the NBA Sportsmanship Award in 2002. For his career he averaged 14.3 points per game. Since retiring as a player, Smith has done work in television as an announcer on Atlanta Hawks games and as a college basketball analyst. He has been known for his philanthropy, which included a $2.5 million gift to Michigan State University to fund the Clara Bell Smith Student Athlete Academic Center, named after his mother.