Kenny Smith

Smith represented the United States in the 1986 FIBA World Championship, on a team that included David Robinson, Muggsy Bogues and Steve Kerr. He was second on the team in scoring behind Charles Smith with 14.7 points per game. Smith scored 23 points to lead the US to an 87–85 win and the Gold Medal over a Soviet Union team that featured Arvydas Sabonis.[12][13]

Smith was selected as a 6'3" 170 lb point guard by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick of the 1987 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (1st Team) after averaging 13.8 points and 7.1 assists per game for the Kings. Smith began his NBA career playing for Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who was head coach for Kings until he was fired 58 games into the '87-88 season.[14]

Smith was traded to the Atlanta Hawks midway through the 1989–90 season, where he was a reserve player for the first time in his career, averaging 7.7 points per game while only starting five of thirty-games he played for the Hawks as a backup to team captain Doc Rivers.[1]

After the 1989–90 season, Smith was traded to the Houston Rockets where he would spend the next six seasons. In 1990–91 Smith averaged 17.7 points per game while leading the Rockets in assists per game (7.1) and free throw percentage (.844).[15] He helped the Rockets to a 52–30 record, the best regular season in franchise history at the time. They were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.[16] Smith finished 17th in voting for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, just ahead of teammate Hakeem Olajuwon.[17]

Head Coach Don Chaney was fired after posting a record of only 26–26 in the 1991–92 season. He was replaced by former Rocket player Rudy Tomjanovich, who went 16–14 to close out the season, missing the playoffs by one game. The Rockets then went 55–27 in 1992–93, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the playoffs in seven games. Smith helped to force a game seven against Seattle by scoring 30 points, shooting 4–6 from three-point range, in a Game 6 victory for Houston.[18][19] The Rockets won back-to-back championships in 1993–94 and 1994–95 with Smith as the starting point guard. From the 1992–93 to 1994–95 seasons, Smith averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 assists per game, with a three-point percentage of .425. In 57 playoff games during the same period, Smith had nearly identical averages of 11.6 points and 4.3 assists, shooting .456 from three-point range.[1] In the first game of the 1995 Finals against the Orlando Magic, Smith had 23 points, 9 assists and made seven three-pointers, including the game-tying shot which sent the game into overtime. Smith's 7 three pointers in the first game of the 1995 NBA Finals was an NBA record at the time. The Rockets won the game 120–118, and went on to sweep the Magic in four games.[20][21]

Smith had been gradually losing playing time to Sam Cassell,[22] but he continued to be the Rockets' starting point guard through the 1995–96 season. Although Smith's points, assists, steals and minutes per game declined for the fifth straight season, he was still productive in 1995–96. He averaged 8.5 points and 3.6 assists per game, and shot .382 from three-point range and .821 from the free throw line.[1] The Rockets finished fifth in the NBA Western Conference with a 48–34 record, upsetting the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round before being swept in the second round by eventual Finals runner-up Seattle SuperSonics.[23] In game four of the series against the Lakers, Smith had 17 points, 6 assists and was 4–4 from three-point range to help the Rockets win the series clincher 102–94. The win against the Lakers also marked the final NBA game for Magic Johnson, who returned to the NBA that season after a five-year absence.[24][25] The Rockets released Smith after the 1995–96 season.

Smith signed with the Detroit Pistons. He played only nine games with the Pistons before he was waived.

Smith signed with the Orlando Magic, who released Smith after only six games.

Smith then signed with the Denver Nuggets, where he would finish his career as a player.[1] Smith played sparingly for the playoff-bound Pistons and the Magic, but got the last meaningful playing time of his career with the Nuggets, a team that won only 21 games that season. Smith averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 assists while playing just under twenty minutes per game. Overall, Smith averaged 6.3 points and 2.4 assists per game, the lowest averages of his career, while his three-point percentage of .437 (59/135) was the second highest of his career, and the fourth season in which he shot better than 40 percent on three-pointers.[1]

In his professional career, Smith scored 9,397 points (12.8 avg.), recorded 4,073 assists (5.5 avg) while shooting .480 from the field, .399 from three-point range, and .829 from the free throw line.[1] He finished in the NBA top ten in three-point percentage three times (1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95), and top ten in free throw percentage twice (1992–93 and 1993–94). In the 1988–89 season Smith was fifth in the league in minutes played, seventh in minutes per game, and tenth in total assists. Smith's career three-point percentage of .399 42nd in NBA history through 2010.[1] Through 2016 Smith held the Denver Nuggets franchise record for career three-point percentage (.425), and ranked among the all-time leaders in several categories for the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets.[26][27][28][29]