Derek Ervin Smith (November 1, 1961 – August 9, 1996) was an American professional basketball player. He won a national championship with the Louisville Cardinals in 1980, and spent nine years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in a career shortened by a knee injury. He would later become an assistant coach for the Washington Bullets from 1994 until his death.
Early life
Derek Smith grew up in Corinth, Georgia and attended high school in the nearby city of Hogansville. He won two state basketball championships with Hogansville High School, yet was not included in any college recruiting publication.[1]
Smith was first recruited by Louisville Cardinals assistant coach Bill Olsen at the age of 15. He was recommended to Olsen by the college's football player Kenny Robinson, who had also grown up in the Hogansville area.[2]
College career
Smith attended the University of Louisville from 1978 to 1982. Seeing as he had enrolled in primary school early, Smith was only 16 years old at the beginning of his freshman year at college.
Smith is sometimes credited with popularizing the term "high five" during the 1979–80 basketball season.[3]
Professional career
Golden State Warriors (1982–1983)
Smith was selected 35th overall, 13th in the second round, by the Golden State Warriors in the 1982 NBA draft. The rookie played sparingly, was used as a power forward[4] and accumulated only 154 minutes in 27 games during his first year in the league. After his rookie season, he was waived by the Warriors and became a free agent.
San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers (1983–1986)
At the request of Portland Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman, Smith received a try out with the San Diego Clippers. After impressing Clippers head coach Jim Lynam, Smith was offered a minimum contract for the 1983–84 season.[5] The Georgia native closed out the last 20 games of his season as the team's starting shooting guard and averaged 17.3 points per game.[6]
Smith's play saw a massive improvement in the 1984–85 season, during which he averaged 22.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He received the Player of the Week award three times during the season and was considered a worthy candidate for the 1985 NBA All-Star Game by certain fellow players and journalists.[7] His play also drew praise from Michael Jordan, who called Smith the most underrated player in the NBA.[8]
He started off the next season averaging 27.1 points per game in the first nine contests of the season, however, suffered a cartilage tear in his left knee.[9] Smith's season was ultimately limited to 11 games as it was also hampered by mononucleosis.[10][11]
Latter career years
With the relationship between Smith and the Clippers souring, the guard signed a 5-year offer sheet with the Sacramento Kings. However, hobbled by injuries and tendinitis in his left knee, Smith struggled to stay on the court and fulfill the expectations the franchise had placed on him.[12]
The guard played for the Kings from 1986 to 1989, for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1989 and 1990, and for the Boston Celtics in 1991, with his statistics declining across the board. Despite only playing in 2 regular season games for the Celtics, he is still remembered by Boston fans for his heroic game 5 performance against the Pacers in the first round of the 1991 playoffs.
In this decisive game, Smith came off the bench to score 12 key points and provide rugged defense against Chuck Person.[13] Smith managed to participate in the contest thanks to a knee injection, and his contribution drew heavy praise from teammate Larry Bird.[14]
Death
In August 1996, Smith went on a cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship MS Dreamward for season ticketholders of the Bullets and the Washington Capitals. He took his family along. Smith and then-Bullets player Tim Legler volunteered to hold basketball clinics during the cruise.
On August 9, 1996, while the ship was near Bermuda and returning to New York City, Smith suddenly suffered an apparent massive heart attack during a farewell cocktail party in the presence of members of his team. Ship medics attempted to resuscitate him for 25 minutes before declaring him dead.
Derek was married to Monica, with whom he had two children: a daughter, Sydney, and a son, Nolan. Nolan played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils and was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers. In 2010, like his father 30 years before him, Nolan made it to the NCAA D-I tournament; Nolan and his Duke Blue Devils won the National Championship, just as Derek and his Louisville Cardinals had done in 1980. Nolan has a tattoo of his father on his right arm.
In April 2022, Nolan joined the coaching staff at his father's alma mater.[17]
