Robert Smith (basketball)

For other people named Robert Smith, see Robert Smith (disambiguation).

Robert Smith
Personal information
Born (1955-03-10) March 10, 1955
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High schoolCrenshaw
(Los Angeles, California)
College
NBA draft1977: 3rd round, 65th overall pick
Drafted byDenver Nuggets
Playing career1977–1992
PositionPoint guard
Number5, 10, 9
Career history
1977–1979Denver Nuggets
1979Utah Jazz
1979–1980New Jersey Nets
1980Cleveland Cavaliers
1981–1982Montana Golden Nuggets
1982Milwaukee Bucks
1982San Diego Clippers
1982–1983Montana Golden Nuggets
1983San Antonio Spurs
1983–1984Toronto Tornados
1984Cleveland Cavaliers
1984–1985Toronto Tornados
1985–1989AS Monaco
1989–1992Olympique Antibes
Career highlights
Stats at NBA.com 
Stats at Basketball Reference 

Robert Leroy Smith (born March 10, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.

College career

A 5'11" tall point guard, Smith played college basketball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where as a member of the fabled "Hardway Eight", that was coached by the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, and that took the Runnin' Rebels to their first NCAA Final Four, in 1977. His jersey was honored by UNLV in 2022.[1]

Professional career

Smith was selected by the Denver Nuggets, in the third round of the 1977 NBA draft, with the 65th overall draft pick. Smith played for seven NBA teams, in as many seasons from, 1977 to 1984. On November 17, 1978, while he was playing with the Denver Nuggets, Smith scored a career-high 19 points, in a game against the Boston Celtics.

In October 1979, Smith was traded by the Denver Nuggets to the Utah Jazz. In November 1979, he was signed as a free agent by the New Jersey Nets.

Coaching career

After he finished his pro club basketball playing career, Smith worked as a basketball coach at the AAU level. He coached at the Bill and Lilly Heinrich YMCA in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with his fellow UNLV teammate and lifelong friend, "Sudden" Sam Smith.

Personal life

Smith was born in Los Angeles, California. He suffered a stroke in 2019. He is still recovering.[1]

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
 *  Led the league

NBA

Source[2]

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1977–78 Denver 45 8.4 .515 .875 .8 .9 .4 .1 2.7
1978–79 Denver 82* 18.0 .422 .883 1.8 2.5 .7 .2 6.4
1979–80 Utah 6 12.2 .333 – 1.000 .5 1.2 .7 .0 1.5
New Jersey 59 12.5 .445 .308 .862 1.3 1.4 .4 .1 5.2
1980–81 Cleveland 1 20.0 .400 – 1.000 3.0 3.0 .0 .0 8.0
1981–82 Milwaukee 17 1 18.6 .473 .200 .833 .8 2.6 .6 .1 6.8
1982–83 San Diego 5 0 8.6 .154 .000 .875 .6 1.2 .8 .0 2.2
San Antonio 7 0 3.6 .455 .000 1.000 .4 .3 .1 .0 1.7
1984–85 Cleveland 7 0 6.9 .235 .000 .800 .6 1.0 .3 .0 2.3
Career 229 1 13.6 .435 .238 .877 1.3 1.8 .5 .1 5.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978 Denver 11 8.7 .654 .714 .8 1.5 .5 .0 3.5
1979 Denver 3 8.3 .000 1.000 .7 1.3 .7 .0 .7
1982 Milwaukee 6 11.3 .385 .286 .875 1.2 2.0 .2 .0 4.8
1983 San Antonio 6 3.2 .444 .000 1.000 .8 1.0 .2 .0 1.7
Career 26 8.0 .456 .250 .842 .9 1.5 .4 .0 3.1

References

  1. ^ a b Graney, Ed (February 19, 2022). "Graney: Rebels look terrific, but day belongs to Robert Smith". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Robert Smith NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.