Chris Smith (basketball, born 1999)

Sean Christian Smith (born December 24, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior in 2020, when he was also named the conference's most improved player. Undrafted out of college, Smith signed a two-way contract to play with the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and their development team, Motor City.

For other basketball people, see Chris Smith § Basketball.
Chris Smith
Smith with the UCLA Bruins in 2019
No. 6 – Salt Lake City Stars
PositionSmall forward
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (1999-12-24) December 24, 1999
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeUCLA (2017–2021)
NBA draft2021: undrafted
Playing career2021–present
Career history
2021–2022Motor City Cruise
2023–presentSalt Lake City Stars
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and high school career

Smith's father, Sean, was his coach in middle school. During his first two years at Fort Worth Country Day School, Smith was the quarterback on the football team in addition to playing basketball. He grew 9 inches (23 cm) between his freshman and sophomore years in high school.[1][2] He transferred to Huntington Prep School. In January 2017, Smith announced he would reclassify from the class of 2018 to the class of 2017. A three-star recruit, Smith signed with UCLA after considering offers from Oregon, TCU, Michigan, Ohio State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech.[3]

College career

The Los Angeles Times described Smith as "a 6-foot-9, 215-pound string bean" that "played his first slate of nonconference games for the Bruins at 17, sprinkling enticing potential atop a mound of mistakes."[1] He averaged 3.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game as a freshman but struggled with turnovers.[4] In his sophomore season, Smith scored in double figures in his first five games but only reached double figures scoring in five of the remaining games.[1] He averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a part-time starter, making 28.1 percent of his three-point field goals.[5]

During his junior year in 2019–20, Smith averaged 11.1 points per game during nonconference play as the Bruins went 7–6.[6] He improved his performance during the season, posting his first double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds on January 2, in a win against Washington followed by 22 points in a loss to Washington State.[7] Smith scored a career-high 30 points on January 31, in a 72–68 win against Colorado.[8] Smith led UCLA in scoring with 13.1 points per game as well as averaging 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He helped the Bruins finish second in the Pac-12 Conference and was named first-team All-Pac-12 as well as the conference's most improved player.[6] Following the season, Smith declared for the 2020 NBA draft,[9] but he later withdrew, returning to UCLA for his senior season.[10]

Entering the 2020–21 season, Smith was named to the preseason watch lists for the Naismith College Player of the Year, John R. Wooden Award and Julius Erving Award.[11][12][13] On December 31, 2020, he suffered a knee injury in the first half against Utah but returned in the second half. However, he was later diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and ruled out for the season.[14] Smith had been inconsistent on offense,[15][16] but he was having his best game of the season against the Utes, making all six of his first half shots and finishing the game with 16 points in 22 minutes.[14][15] He ended the season with averages of 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, which were both second on the team at the time.[15] After undergoing knee surgery, Smith spent a month away from the team before returning to rehabilitate with UCLA staff and supporting the team from the sidelines.[17] He was not expected to be able to resume basketball activities until the fall. After the season, Smith declared for the 2021 NBA draft while retaining the option to return to UCLA. An extra year of eligibility was granted to athletes because of the COVID-19 pandemic,[18] but he later confirmed that he was remaining in the draft.[19]

Professional career

Motor City Cruise (2021–2022)

After going undrafted, Smith was named to the Detroit Pistons roster for the 2021 NBA Summer League, but he was not expected to play because of his injury.[20] On August 17, 2021, he signed a two-way contract to play with the Pistons and the Motor City Cruise of the G League.[21] On March 8, 2022, Smith injured his left knee against the Canton Charge. He underwent an ACL reconstruction procedure on March 29 and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.[22][23] On April 3, he was waived by the Pistons without playing an NBA game.[24][25] In 18 games with Motor City, he averaged 8.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists.[24]

Salt Lake City Stars (2023–present)

On January 1, 2023, Smith was acquired via waivers by the Salt Lake City Stars.[26]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 UCLA 33013.1.439.179.5851.9.5.2.23.9
2018–19 UCLA 331219.6.405.281.7193.71.3.4.36.3
2019–20 UCLA 312628.3.458.341.8405.41.61.0.413.1
2020–21 UCLA 8828.0.438.500.7946.42.0.9.512.6
Career 1054620.8.438.316.7573.81.2.6.38.0

Source:[27]

References
  1. Bolch, Ben (February 19, 2020). "UCLA has prospered from Chris Smith's focus on what's next instead of what happened". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  2. Johns, Les (December 12, 2016). "Chris Smith on Jayhawk offer". 247 Sports. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  3. "UCLA Lands 6th Commit For 2017 Class in Chris Smith". Slam. February 17, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  4. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (October 17, 2018). "UCLA basketball turns to Chris Smith at backup point guard after injury". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  5. Davis, Seth (March 9, 2020). "Hoop Thoughts: End-of-season awards, Wisconsin's turnaround, my top 25 and more". The Athletic. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  6. "Chris Smith Named All-Pac −12 First Team, Most Improved". 247 Sports. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  7. Bolch, Ben (January 8, 2020). "UCLA's Chris Smith is getting more confident and it's showing on court". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  8. "UCLA defeats No. 20 Colorado 72–68 behind Smith's 30 points". ESPN. Associated Press. January 31, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  9. Givony, Jonathan (April 7, 2020). "UCLA junior Chris Smith enters NBA draft". ESPN. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  10. Grosbard, Adam (August 3, 2020). "UCLA's Chris Smith withdraws name from NBA Draft". Orange County Register. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  11. "2021 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Watch List Headlined By Two Former Award Winners And One 2020 Finalist". NaismithTrophy.com. November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  12. Bolch, Ben (December 2, 2020). "If he's underperforming, UCLA's Chris Smith wants to hear all about it". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  13. "Basketball Hall of Fame Names Twenty Small Forwards to Watch List for 2021 Julius Erving Award" (PDF) (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. November 4, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 10, 2020.
  14. Bolch, Ben (January 2, 2021). "UCLA beats Colorado after learning Chris Smith has torn ACL, will miss rest of season". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  15. Borzello, Jeff (January 3, 2021). "UCLA Bruins men's basketball senior Chris Smith out for season after tearing ACL". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  16. Bolch, Ben (December 22, 2020). "UCLA's Chris Smith wants to get more involved with offense". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  17. Grosbard, Adam (March 25, 2021). "UCLA's Chris Smith embracing Sweet 16 despite torn ACL". The Orange County Register. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  18. Bolch, Ben (May 28, 2021). "UCLA's Cody Riley and Chris Smith will test NBA draft waters; Jaime Jaquez will not". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  19. Bolch, Ben (July 5, 2021). "Chris Smith announces he will not be returning to UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  20. Sankofa II, Omari (August 5, 2021). "Detroit Pistons' 2021 summer league roster headlined by Cade Cunningham, 2020 draft class". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  21. "Detroit Pistons Sign Luka Garza and Chris Smith to Two-Way Contracts". NBA.com. August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  22. Connon, Sam (March 30, 2022). "Former UCLA Guard Chris Smith Suffers ACL Injury, Out Indefinitely For Detroit Pistons". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  23. Sankofa, Omari II [@omarisankofa] (March 30, 2022). "Pistons announce that Chris Smith underwent an ACL reconstruction on his left knee in Chicago yesterday. The injury occurred during the Motor City Cruise's game against the Canton Charge on March 8. Smith is out indefinitely. It's the same ACL he injured in college" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. "DETROIT PISTONS SIGN BRAXTON KEY TO A TWO-WAY CONTRACT". NBA.com. April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  25. Sankofa, Omari II (April 4, 2022). "Detroit Pistons sign Carsen Edwards and Braxton Key, waive Chris Smith". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  26. "2022-23 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  27. "Chris Smith College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
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