Al Smith (basketball)

Alan Otis Smith (January 15, 1947 – December 19, 2022) was an American basketball player who played for five seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA). A point guard during his career, he played for the Denver Rockets and Utah Stars and once led the ABA in assists in a season.

Smith was born in Peoria, Illinois. He also attended Manual High School in Peoria.^[1] Smith played basketball, football, and baseball at Manual, earning All-State honors in all three sports.^[2] His baseball skill was such that the Chicago White Sox drafted him in the 7th round of the inaugural Major League Baseball draft in 1965.^[3] Instead of signing with the White Sox, he opted to attend college.

Smith was given offers to attend USC and Notre Dame,^[4] but he chose to attend Bradley University as a basketball and baseball player. Smith spent four years at Bradley, though his time in college was interrupted by a two-year stint in the United States Army.^[5] As a college basketball player, he scored over 1,000 points for Bradley and was named first team All-Missouri Valley Conference in 1971 during his senior season.^[5] His college success was honored in 2004 when he was selected to Bradley's All-Century team.^[4]

In 1971, Smith was drafted by the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls in the 11th round of the NBA draft;^[6] previously, he was also drafted by the Bulls in the 10th round of the 1969 draft. He was also a 4th round draft pick of the American Basketball Association's Denver Rockets (now the NBA's Nuggets) in a separate draft.^[7] Smith chose to sign with the Rockets, and he would go on to play for the club for three seasons.^[1] In his first season, he served as the backup to point guard Larry Brown^[8] while averaging nine points and three assists per game.^[1]

Smith became the Rockets' regular point guard during the 1972–1973 season after Brown took a job as head coach. He scored a career-best eleven-plus points per game in his second season, while averaging five-and-a-half assists per game.^[1] His scoring decreased slightly in the 1973–1974 season but he went on to average eight assists per game, and would lead the ABA in assists.^[9]

Before the 1974–1975 season, Smith was traded to the Utah Stars in exchange for a draft pick and cash.^[10] In his first season with the Stars, he averaged a career-low eight points per game, while also averaging four-and-a-half assists per contest.^[1]

His second season with the Stars lasted only fifteen games before the Stars folded in December.^[11] A persistent knee injury eventually ended his career after five seasons.^[5] He retired having scored over 3,200 points and having dished out over 1,700 assists.^[1]

For the Western Basketball Association, Smith played for the Tucson Gunners in its first and only season from 1978 to 1979.^[12]

Smith went on to become a social worker in Denver, also working at a cable television supply company. For a year-and-a-half, he served as an assistant head coach at Manual High School, helping lead the school to two state championships. As of 2007, Smith was working in Paterson, New Jersey, as a school counselor.^[5]